PPP trails ahead in Sindh’s violence-plagued LG polls

HYDERABAD:

The candidates of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) trailed ahead of their opponents in the violence-plagued first phase of local bodies elections in Sindh, unconfirmed and unofficial election results indicated on Sunday.

The people in the province went to the by-polls in 14 districts of four divisions with more than 11 million voters choosing their representatives for the municipal system of their towns and villages after more than six years.

As many as 21,298 candidates landed in the electoral fray for 6,277 seats of 101 town committees, 23 municipal committees, 14 district councils, four municipal corporations, 11 town municipal corporations and 887 union councils and union committees.

The complaints of missing ballot papers, change of the election symbols and belated start of the polling were reported from many districts.

Voting which began at 9am concluded at 5pm while as many as 946 candidates were elected unopposed. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) extended the timing at polling stations where the voting process was suspended during the originally designated hours.

The polling, as had been anticipated earlier, remained marred by disorder as Sukkur, Sanghar and Tharpakar emerged as the flashpoints of violence, leaving two persons killed and more than a hundred injured.

The unofficial results put the PPP in winning positions in the municipal committees Mithi, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Ghotki. The candidates of the ruling party in Sindh also secured majority seats in the town committees Kashmore, Khairpur, Khipro, Daur, Madeji and Thull.

However, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GAD) also swept all the seven wards in municipal committee Pir Jo Goth in Kingri town of Khairpur district.

In the Sanghar district, the GDA secured half of the seats in the municipal committee Sanghar, which has 12 wards, while the other half were won by the PPP. An alliance between political family Jatoi and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl won a town committee in Khairpur.

Violence at polling stations

During the election polling, clashes broke out between political parties at several polling stations leading to injuries.

Voting was halted due to riots at certain wards with reports of rigging, rioting, disappearances of polling booths and incarceration of polling staff in different districts.

In Rohri, at least one person was killed and two injured during an exchange of fire between the two rival groups, halting the polling process. The clashes turned the polling station into a battlefield and triggered a stampede among the voters.

Read SHC dismisses pleas seeking postponement of LG polls in Sindh

In ward 13 of Tando Adam, a clash occurred between PPP and PTI workers which led to the death of Zafar Khan Gandapur, the brother of PTI candidate Qaiser Khan Gandapur - who was also injured during the fight.

Polling was stopped in ward 13 after the murder, and the PTI candidate alleged that his brother was killed due to PPP workers' violence.

In Khairpur, at least five people were injured as a result of a clash between the workers of the GDA and the PPP. The violence had resulted in the closure of the polling stations.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the ECP said that the chief election commissioner was monitoring the electoral process himself, saying the election watchdog took swift action in the areas where violence was reported and reopened the polling stations after taking control of the situation.

He urged people not to pay heed to the rumours and poll their votes without fear.

Alleged irregularities

Meanwhile, the PPP leader and former minister Owais Qadir Shah called into question the performance of the ECP, saying the voter registration data were “incorrect” and asked the election organising authority to take notice of the alleged irregularities at the polling stations.

PPP Senator Taj Haider also requested the chief election commissioner to extend the polling time in 14 districts of Sindh by two hours and allow the polling process till 7pm.

Subsequently, the ECP decided to extend the polling period at the polling stations where the polling process was stopped for some obvious reasons.

At other polling stations, only voters inside the polling station would be allowed to cast their votes after the scheduled time of 5pm, the ECP spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Sindh Election Commissioner Ijaz Anwar Chauhan while addressing a press conference said that Rangers personnel would be present with police for quick response if need be.

He added that they were also in touch with the military in case of emergency. According to Ijaz, cameras were installed to make the elections transparent, and an effective security system had also been put in place. He maintained that strict action would be taken against those who spread unrest, adding that Daska's case was before everyone as an example.

“Action will also be taken against staff who colluded with the candidates”, he said.

'Misprinted ballot papers'

Meanwhile, the ECP took to its official Twitter handle to announce that some districts had incorrect candidate names printed on the ballot papers.

According to the watchdog, the contestation in these regions would be postponed and a new schedule would be presented for fresh elections.

The ECP further stated that it had launched an inquiry into the matter.

PPP general secretary Farhatullah Babar reacted to the ECP statement, saying it was good that the electoral watchdog ordered a probe into the matter but "it should have mentioned the deadline for completion of the inquiry, assurance of making probe findings public and punishment for those responsible".

"Such shortcomings bring disrepute to the Election Commission," he added.

Unopposed victories

Statistics suggest that out of 887 seats for union councils and union committees, candidates have won unopposed on 135 seats, and now there is a contest between 3,190 candidates for the remaining 752 seats.

Of the 794 district councillor seats, 107 candidates are unopposed and 2,604 candidates are contesting for 687 seats. Out of 3,548 seats of the union committee and union council ward councillors, 622 candidates are unopposed while 9744 candidates are contesting for 2926 seats.

Moreover, of the 694 seats for ward councillors of town committees, 68 candidates have won unopposed and 3,225 candidates are contesting for the remaining 626 seats.