ECP snubs PTI’s PP-7 recount request

Commission says appellant has neither given reasons, nor proved rigging

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday rejected the PTI’s application for a recount of votes in the Punjab Assembly constituency PP-7 (Rawalpindi-II).

A five-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the application.

The other members of the bench included Ahmed Durrani, Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Hassan Bharwana, and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan.

The bench declared that the appellant had failed to give the reasons for a recount of votes in the by-polls, after reserving its verdict earlier in the day.

It added that the appellant could not prove rigging in the by-election.

Earlier, PTI candidate Col (retd) Shabbir Awan’s request for a recount of votes had been dismissed by the returning officer of the constituency. However, the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench ordered the ECP to stop the issuance of the result and resolve the issue first.

During the hearing, the lawyer for the PTI candidate contended that his client had lost by 49 votes only and his request for a recount was not being processed.

The CEC told him that no application had been filed on behalf of his client with the commission. “No application was received by the ECP till 5 pm yesterday [Wednesday]. You filed the petition after the high court judgment. You have alleged that the ECP was not looking at your application,” he added.

The counsel for the PML-N candidate maintained that Awan had no proof of rigging. He described the PTI’s plea for a recount as “baseless”.

“They failed to prove their point even in front of the returning officer,” he added.

He claimed that at first, the PTI candidate was talking about the entire constituency.

“Now they are talking about 21 polling stations,” he maintained, adding Awan's stance was invalid because it kept changing.

According to the electoral watchdog’s spokesperson, the notification for the newly elected 19 members of the Punjab Assembly had been issued.

The former ruling party had requested a recount of votes in PP-7, because of which the notification of the successful candidate in the constituency was not announced.

Read PML-N congratulates PTI on ‘landslide victory’ in Punjab by-polls

PML-N candidate Raja Sagheer Ahmed had emerged victorious in the constituency with a thin margin of 49 votes in the Punjab by-polls held on July 17.

PML-N's Ahmed had bagged the seat with 68,906 votes, whereas PTI’s Awan managed to fetch 68,857.

The razor-thin margin prompted the PTI candidate to challenge the result and file an application for a recount of votes in the constituency.

Reacting over the ECP decision, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Vice President Fawad Chaudhry advised Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to formally announce his joining the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

In a statement on Thursday, Fawad stated that the ECP’s decision was certainly disappointing, but not surprising due to the past record of the commission.

He said that if the issues were dealt with sans taking into account the constitution and laws and rules and regulations, such kind of decisions were made.

“There is a long list of ECP’s decisions which have been overturned by the high courts,” Fawad added.

He stated that the commission completely disregarded the instructions of the high court in this matter as well. He advised that the CEC should free himself from all kinds of difficulties and troubles and announce his joining the PML-N.