Re-polling likely on six Karachi UCs

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued notices to candidates of the six union councils (UCs) of Karachi on which it had suspended a recount of votes.

The court observed that candidates from the six candidates must be heard before the decision regarding re-polling is made. In addition, the court extended the suspension on the recount till the next hearing on April 19.

It said that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should have conducted re-polling on the six union councils if there was any evidence of rigging.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had claimed post-poll rigging and challenged the recount in five UCs of west district and one in east. The petitioner's lawyer, Qaiser Imam, and Hasan Javed Sarosh appeared in the court where the Election Commission's lawyer, Saad Hassan, was also present.

The petitioner's lawyer argued that the seals on the bags in which the counted votes were kept had been sealed, while the officials also failed to provide Form 12.

The petition said this was clear evidence of rigging.

The court observed that it was the responsibility of the ECP to ensure fair and transparent elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2023.