Duty done: Teachers protest against rigging allegations

Hold sit-in at Faisal Chowk, denounce comments made by Abrarul Haq.

LAHORE:

Some one hundred teachers staged a protest in front of the Punjab Assembly chambers on The Mall on Thursday to reject claims of rigging by polling staff in the general elections.

Teachers made up a large proportion of the government employees who manned polling stations and helped conduct the voting process on election day. The protest on Thursday, organised by the Punjab Teachers Union (PTU), was a response to allegations of rigging made by politicians and their supporters.

The teachers were particularly enraged at comments made by Abrarul Haq, a pop star who ran in the elections on a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ticket, in a television talk show. He was reported to have criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan for handing polling duties to teachers, who he said were “an easy target to exploit through money”.

The protestors, echoing demands made in statements by the PTU, sought an apology from Haq. They held a sit-in at Faisal Chowk for around two hours, waving placards and chanting slogans, sometimes abusive, against Haq.



PTU General Secretary Rana Liaquat Ali said that the allegations against teachers who performed polling duties on May 11 were outrageous. “All the votes were genuine,” he said.

He said that no teachers had reported incidents of unfair means being employed at any polling station in the Punjab. He criticised the PTI for blaming the polling staff for the outcome of the elections. “If people did not vote for them, that does not mean that the polling was unfair,” he said.

The protestors outside the Punjab Assembly demanded that evidence be brought forward to back up claims of rigging. “It is easy to trace the polling staff on duty at each polling station,” said Ali. “If there has been any rigging, bring forth the evidence and let the proceedings begin. Until then, people and political leaders, especially of the PTI, should refrain from making any such claims.”

He said that Haq should make an unconditional apology, or the union would hold a protest outside his office. The PTU will consider further protests after three days, he added.

Problems on polling day

The PTU is currently compiling a report of complaints from teachers who had served as polling officials. The report, which is to be finished before the end of the week and sent to the ECP, will list problems such as transportation, allowance issues and assigning of multiple duties. Ali said that teachers were not given proper transport or a travelling allowance, especially those assigned duties in “far-flung” areas.

ECP Punjab Deputy Director Abdul Waheed said that the issue of some officials being assigned multiple duties had been addressed before the elections. He said that any complaints of rigging were being dealt with at the ECP office in Islamabad.

Regarding transport, he said the district coordination officers had been responsible for arranging transport for polling staff. The ECP had paid the DCOs for arranging transport and making logistic plans.

The Lahore DCO’s office denied any trouble with transport. Imran Maqbool, the public relations officer to the DCO, said that transport was provided to all polling staff as per their logistic plan. He said that any concern regarding transport should have been brought up before the elections.

The PTU represents almost 330,000 teachers in the province. Teachers assigned duties as presiding and assistant presiding officer were paid Rs1,300 while polling officers were paid Rs900 for their services on election day, the union said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.