Demanding an explanation: Chief secretary summons report on mismanagement, violence

Residents of various localities protest against alleged rigging by ruling party, JUI-F .

PESHAWAR:

A day after the local government (LG) elections concluded, Chief Secretary Amjid Ali Khan has sought a report from Deputy Commissioner Riaz Mehsud on the mismanagement, rigging allegations and violence that took place.

A senior official at the DC office, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, told The Express Tribune on Sunday that Khan has directed the DC to submit a report of polling day mismanagement and unrest in the district.

According to the insider, the DC has called all returning officers and told them to report from their respective areas. Once he receives those, the DC will compile a detailed report to submit to the chief secretary. The insider said the DC will submit his findings that same day.

Rigging allegations

On the other hand, various candidates from several union councils and their supporters took to the streets on Sunday to protest alleged rigging by the candidates of the ruling party, PTI.



Residents of UC-68 protested at Bacha Khan Chowk, accusing PTI of controlling the election process by appointing their own polling staff and police in the area, and ensuring bogus votes are cast for its candidates.

According to the protesters, workers of Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman had control over their polling station and did not allow voters to cast ballots for other parties and independent candidates.

Demonstrators shouted slogans against PTI and demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan take note of rigging in the UC’s polling station and order a re-poll.

Similarly, residents of Suleman Khel also protested outside Peshawar Press Club against alleged rigging by PTI in the polls. They also urged the ECP to investigate polling stations in their area and hold fresh elections.

PTI was not the only party accused of rigging. Residents of UC-38 Bihari Colony also claimed Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl candidates polled bogus votes in the constituency and protested against the party. Manzoor Ali, a candidate, told The Express Tribune, that in a women’s polling station, the polling agent, who was supporting JUI-F, forced voters to stamp on the religious party’s symbols. He claimed ballot boxes were carried into a separate room in the station and fake votes were cast.

MPA Yasin Khalil, who is also the district president of PTI, also accused JUI-F of rigging. His brother was contesting from the UC and was unsuccessful. According to Khalil, women polling agents took votes from women by force. “Some candidates have received only six to ten bogus votes while some have got 700 votes which is unacceptable,” he said.

The historic May 30 LG polls – the first such elections under a democratically elected government in K-P – were marred by mismanagement, rigging allegations and violence over those accusations.

Several candidates received the short end of the stick as their symbols were missing from the ballot papers. There were also reports of polling being suspended for hours at various stations in the province because of scuffles between supporters and candidates and incomplete ballot papers.

As per records obtained from the Lady Reading Hospital, 62 injured people were brought there, including five policemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2015.