Arbab Rahim begrudgingly concedes defeat in by-polls

Former CM lost to PPP's Ameer Ali Shah by 25,000 votes

HYDERABAD:

Former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has accepted defeat in PS-52 by-elections in Umerkot, saying he will again contest from the same constituency in the 2023 general elections. Addressing a press conference in Umerkot on Tuesday, accompanied by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's MNA Lal Malhi, Rahim said if he had not participated in the by-polls he would have been dubbed as a runaway.

The Pakistan Peoples Party's candidate Syed Ameer Ali Shah won the election with a lead of around 25,000 votes, securing 55,904 votes against 30,921 of Rahim, who contested from the platform of Grand Democratic Alliance, supported by PTI and some nationalist parties. Rahim said he knew that the PPP-led Sindh government would employ the official machinery for the rigging but he still took part in the process.

"I didn't see a hope for a change through the election because the Election Commission of Pakistan's lower staff and the Sindh government's employees rig the polls." He claimed that stamped ballot papers were found in an area in Chorr on the polling day.

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"They [the PPP] received a concession against their deed of stabbing the Pakistan Democratic Movement on its back," Rahim said without elaborating the nature of concession and as to who had given that alleged concession. Nevertheless, the GDA's candidate said he has not lost all hope as he looked up to the next general elections in which he will run for the same constituency.

He told that the GDA will support the PTI's decision about the NA-221 Tharparkar by-elections slated for February 18. The PS-52 witnessed around 60 per cent voter turnout despite the usually lower turnout which is often seen in the by-polls as well as the COVID-19 situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2021.