UC candidate declared dead

Candidate says there was no other candidate and he would have won unopposed but the RO said he was dead

FAISALABAD:

Earlier this week, a returning officer rejected the nomination papers of a candidate for a general councillor seat from UC 33 because his name appeared among ‘dead people’ identified by the Election Commission of Pakistan’s mobile service unit. 

Naik Muhammad, a resident of Chak 202, Bhowana, said he had filed nomination papers for the general councillor seat. “There was no other candidate for the seat and I would have won unopposed, however the RO said I was dead.”

Returning Officer Sajjad Ahmad Naik Muhammad’s name was in the list of people who had died. “I had documentary proof of the demise of a person with the name so I rejected his papers.”

Naik Muhammad, however, insisted that he had shown the RO his Computerised National Identify Card (CNIC), record of union council and the voter list of his area, according to which, he was alive. “But he did not budge. I feel that something fishy is up.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2015.