ECP rules out possibility of re-elections for local govt in K-P

CEC says holding polls not a joke; brother of K-P CM in hot waters

ISLAMABAD: Amid controversy over transparency of last month’s local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), officials of the election body on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a re-poll in the province - a demand being made by different political parties.

A top official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told The Express Tribune that there was no possibility of holding the entire exercise afresh since there was no provision in the Constitution or any of the subordinate laws to do so.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza gave a similar but veiled hint during a hearing on alleged rigging case against the brother of K-P chief minister Pervez Khattak.

“Holding of elections is not a joke. It is we (ECP) who have to decide what to do. We would decide what is prescribed in the law,” the CEC was quoted as telling the complainant who argued his case against CM’s brother Liaqat Khattak.

Read: LG polls: K-P government, ECP row intensifies

The complainant Jawad Khattak demanded entire election should be declared null and void.

Almost all major parties of K-P, which participated in the May 30 LG polls, as well as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had offered holding re-elections.

After grave irregularities were reported in the polls, the ECP and the K-P government are now at logger heads over mismanagement in polls and publicly shifting blame on each other.

The official, who is part of ECP's legal wing, ruled out possibility of fresh elections, saying those who have complaints can file applications to the post-election tribunals, which will examine cases individually.

“After the 2013 general elections, we had set up a total of 14 tribunals across the country but after K-P LG polls we have set up 92 tribunals,” said the official. “The only option to decide election petitions is through these tribunals or the ECP can take decision after a summary trial. But this is done on case-to-case basis. We have no authority to adjudicate the whole election in any manner.”

Read: Violence in LG polls: ECP faults K-P for security lapses during vote

Khattak’s brother in trouble

The K-P chief minister and his party PTI are in for a rude shock with Khattak's brother being accused of rigging in the recently-held local bodies' polls.

During Monday’s proceedings, Javed Khattak, who lost against CM’s brother for a district council seat in Manki Sharif, presented hundreds of ballot papers which, he claimed, were polled in his favour but were left out from the final count.

Javed claimed that thousands of votes at different polling stations polled in his favour had been thrown away.

Interestingly, he produced dozens of copies of original ballot papers marked with his name as proof to substantiate his claim. Under the law, the ballot papers must remain in the custody of election authorities. But Javed's possession of these ballot papers made his case strong.

The respondents, Liaqat Khattak, AIG, district returning officer and returning officer have been asked to file their responses on Wednesday.