ECP wants ‘heads to roll’ over by-polls violence

Calls on Sindh govt to suspend additional deputy commissioner, SHO concerned

HYDRABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has instructed the Sindh government to suspend the additional deputy commissioner of Hyderabad and a police officer due to their reluctance to take action during the violent incidents that occurred on May 7 during the by-elections for Union Committee (UC) 119 of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

On Wednesday, a committee of the ECP, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Khuwaja, issued a four-page order, directing the police to also arrest Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Saeeduddin for UC-119 for his involvement in the ransacking of a polling station.

During the hearing before the three-member ECP committee, which also included Members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi, the District Returning Officer (DRO) Yousuf Majeedano recounted the entire incident, including the snatching of ballot books and stamps. He held SHO Muhammad Ali Dhamrah from B-Section police station responsible for not showing up at the three affected polling stations or cooperating in filing the First Information Report (FIR).

"The DRO recorded a statement from the Presiding Officer who nominated Saeeduddin as a candidate for the position of chairman [UC-119]," states the order. Majeedano complained that even after the intervention of SSP Hyderabad, a weak FIR was lodged that did not include the names of the accused.

All three presiding officers, Ismail Laghari, Abdul Jabbar, and Muhammad Junaid, submitted their statements to testify about the incident. Laghari, one of the complainants in the FIR, captured the incident on a CCTV camera. "The Returning Officer [Additional DC] was questioned about the actions taken on their part, to which they had no answer." The ECP reminded the Returning Officer (RO) that they possessed the powers of a judicial magistrate and were therefore expected to act promptly. "In this case, the necessary action has not been taken, and the RO failed to exercise their authority," reads the order. Hyderabad SSP Amjad Ahmed Shaikh informed the commission that the police are attempting to arrest Saeeduddin and five other suspects, but he remains at large. The ECP has given the Hyderabad police one week to apprehend Saeeduddin.

Furthermore, the ECP has established a two-member committee to investigate the incident and submit a report within a week. Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Ali Asghar Sial and Regional Election Commissioner Nazar Abbass, both based in Karachi, have been appointed as members.

According to unofficial results, two independent candidates, Imran Bashir and Syed Shahid Ali, were leading the vote count for the positions of chairman and vice chairman of UC-119, well ahead of the PPP's rival candidate. However, a group of PPP workers attacked and vandalized the polling station.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2023.