Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Ameer Engineer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman alleged that the Eletion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not perform its due role in holding free and fair elections.
Speaking at the press conference, he said, the JI will hold protest and sit-ins against the rigging and insult to mandate of masses. He further said that the JI will expand the protest across the country.
The ECP will have to explain what outcome it wants to achieve by violating the mandate of masses time and again, he said. The entire exercise has cost Rs48 billion to the national exchequer. He said, what was the purpose of such an expensive exercise, if the ECP had to announce the results under a pre-planned mechanism.
Detailing the anomalies, he said the ECP had announced that form 45 and 46 would be issued the same night but it was not done.
He said that form 45 and 46 were issued on Friday which proves the worst kind of rigging and insult to the mandate of masses. He highlighted several examples, including one of PS-91 where Muttahida Qaumi Movment bagged 5,000 votes but in the connected NA, the MQM was bestowed 88,000 votes.
He also highlighted that according to the announcement, JI's candidate in NA-236 only received 21,000 votes. Similarly, he said, Alamgir bagged only 10,000 votes as per the announcement, whereas both the candidates received much more votes as per form 45 and 46.
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He further said that the JI's candidate Muhammad Farooq in PS-91 stood first with 23,000 votes whereas Muhammad Ahmed, Junaid Mukati, and Abdul Rasheed won in PS-124, 104 and 106 respectively.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Central Muslim League Karachi president, Ahmed Nadeem Awan, said that any change in the election results will not be acceptable. He said that counting of votes have not been completed even until the evening on the second day. It was the responsibility of the ECP to hold fair and transparent results of the general elections but the commission failed to do so.
He alleged that results are being changed under a planned conspiracy. He said that the results in various constituencies are surprising. The candidates who were rejected by the people are being declares as winners. All the claims made by the ECP regarding the preparations for the elections turned out to be false.
Awan said that voters turnout was shown less deliberately. He said that such actions on the part of the ECP and administrative machinery are regrettable and shameful.
These actions will shatter public confidence in the electoral system. Pakistan cannot afford any more chaos. The mandate of the people should be respected and political parties should be given their right.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th 2024.
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