ECP rejects toss-based victory of chairman

HYDRABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected the electoral victory decision based on a toss for Chairman of Town Municipal Corporation (TMC) Paretabad, Hyderabad.

The ECP has also dismissed the report by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) covering up the violence that occurred on the polls day.

The bench, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, has invalidated the July 11 victory of Sohail Ahmed Jahejo from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which had been declared by the returning officer.

The bench has instructed SSP Hyderabad Sajid Amir Suddozai to conduct a fresh investigation into the violence that took place on June 15 during the TMC Paretabad elections, rather than asserting that the process had been peaceful.

Both Sohail Ahmed Jahejo and his opponent Adnan Rasheed, an alleged defector from PTI, secured 14 votes each out of a total 28 in the July 11 polls.

The returning officer, Khalid Hussain Babar suggested to determine the winner using a toss.

During the ECP hearing, Rasheed's counsel, advocate Shahzeb Shah, argued that section 53 of the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2019, stipulated that in case of a tie in voting, both candidates should be declared as successful candidates, with each serving half of the four-year term in the office.

Shah added that the returning officer was required to decide which of the two successful candidates would serve the initial two-year term.

The bench highlighted that the 2013 Act, upon which the returning officer had based his decision, was amended in 2019. Consequently, equal votes should have resulted in the declaration of both candidates as winners.

The ECP order stated, “The order dated July 11, 2023, passed by the returning officer to declare only one contesting candidate successful for the entire term is not accurate.”

On June 15, the 28 elected local government representatives of TMC Paretabad were scheduled to vote for the chairman and vice-chairman positions. The polling took place at Government Noor Muhammad High School in Heerabad.

However, a mob surrounding the polling station prevented many voters from entering polling station, as reported by the District Returning Officer (DRO) in his submission to the ECP.

The SSP Hyderabad, however, attempted to downplay the poor law and order situation that disrupted the polling and led the local election officials to postpone the process. In his report, Suddozai claimed that the law and order situation was 'normal' on that day.

The commission, however, noted that the “polling process was disrupted by the mob, and most members of the electoral college were prevented from entering the polling station.”

The commission also pointed out that some contesting candidates and their supporters were responsible for the violence on June 15.

The ECP criticised the police reports for lacking confidence, appropriate action, and necessary measures. The ECP instructed SSP Hyderabad to conduct a fresh investigation into the incident from all perspectives and apprehend those involved.

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