Cantonment polls: Court hears petitions seeking re-election in four wards

District and sessions judge summons respondents on July 1

LAHORE: District and sessions judge Tariq Iftikhar Ahmad on Wednesday summoned 29 respondents to appear before the court on July 1 while hearing petitions seeking reelection in four Lahore Cantonment Board wards.

Two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), one Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and one independent contestant have alleged rigging and irregularities in the local government elections in their wards. After hearing preliminary arguments, the judge summoned the respondents with their replies.

Petitioners Javed Zameer Ahmad, the PML-N candidate from Ward 5, has challenged the victory of PTI’s Shehzad Hussain. Muhammad Iqbal, the PML-N candidate from Ward 3, has challenged the victory of PTI’s Rasheed Ahmad. Zameer Ahmad stated that he had submitted an application to the returning officer, seeking a recount of votes in Ward 5. However, he said, his request was rejected.

“My agents were not allowed to enter several polling stations. The PTI’s returned candidate has not disclosed the correct details of his assets, which is a violation of election laws,” he said.

Iqbal stated that the PTI’s winning candidate had spent Rs10 million on canvassing. “A man cast five votes at various poling stations. A large number of people, who were not resident of Ward 3, also cast votes in the election,” he said.

Chaudhry Muhammad Umar Akbar, the PTI candidate from Ward 7, requested the court to declare the victory of PML-N’s Rana Tanveer void.

Akbar said the voters’ list contained names of dozens of people who were not resident of Ward 7. “I submitted applications to the Election Commission pointing out the irregularity. On the election day, too, I informed the returning officer (RO) about this. However, no action was taken. Polling stations 7 and 8 were established adjacent to the main office of PML-N. Our polling agents were stopped from entering these polling stations. Tanveer spent Rs25 million on the election campaign. According to election rules, a candidate can only spend Rs200,000. Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and MPA Yaseen Sohal participated in Tanveer’s campaign and spoke at corner meetings in the ward,” he said.

Bilal Aslam, an independent candidate from Ward 9, said that 1,500 entries in the voters’ list were bogus. “Rafique and MPA Mian Naseer fully participated in election campaign, violating orders of the Election Commission. Several polling stations were established in private schools, whose owners are supporters of the PML-N,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.