PTI's Shoaib Shaheen to seek 'legal recourse' against NA-47 results

Shaheen alleges his votes added to PML-N's Tariq Fazal Chaudhry's; says wrote to DCO, ECP but got no response

PTI-backed candidate Shoaib Shaheen, addressing the media on Friday, slammed NA-47 results where PML-N's Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was declared victorious, stating that he will pursue political and legal options.

Expressing concerns about "injustice and oppression against the PTI", he claimed that the nomination papers were unjustly taken away, accusing the Returning Officers (RO) of being "experts in corruption".

Shaheen stated, "They took away our bat [PTI's electoral symbol]" as he blamed the Supreme Court for the ongoing injustice and tyranny. The PTI-backed candidate asserted, "I had a lead of more than 50,000 votes, my opponents had a total of 40,000 votes polled."

"My votes were added to Tariq's vote list," he alleged.

The PTI candidate said he approached the DCO and the Election Commission by writing applications but received no response. He pointed out that every candidate was supposed to be given Form 45. In questioning the democratic process, he rhetorically asked, "If you don't like someone, will you change their vote?"

Read Public’s poll participation reflects confidence in Imran: PTI

"I wasn't behind Tariq in any of the polling station results," stated Shaheen, blaming the ECP for the "indecent" conduct of the election. He also mentioned his willingness to address any reservations against him with the RO.

"There was no need to spend billions. You should have just announced that the ladla (favourite) [PML-N's Nawaz Sharif] is coming into power," Shaheen stated.

Accusing the authorities of "undermining the foundations" and "causing harm to the state", Shaheen declared his intent to "protest and challenge the result". "The people are being denied their basic rights," he said, emphasising that "today's war is not for power but for the survival of the people".

Furthermore, he mentioned, "We had the complete results by 11 PM and we will go to the court to challenge this dishonesty". He claimed that "there has been a change of over 50,000 votes".