Farooq Sattar says ‘post-poll rigging’ took place in the metropolis

Author: Muzammil Ferozi

“Post-poll rigging’ was carried out in Karachi during July 25 general elections,” said senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Farooq Sattar on Friday.

Senior leader Farooq Sattar, who underwent a crushing defeat in two constituencies, said that rigging was held in a very intricate manner. “Although there was no such rigging during the polls, the results were altered afterwards,” claimed Farooq Sattar.

The MQM-P leader also raised questions over the competence of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding transparent and non-controversial polls. Sattar said that the constituencies of a large number of voters in District Central were changed at the eleventh hour.

Except Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which bagged 14 out of 21 NA seats in the metropolis, all major political parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), have complained of “blatant” rigging in the polls.

MQM has failed to retain its powerful position in Karachi where PTI has now emerged as a strong contender. PTI, which emerged triumphant in the elections according to preliminary results, dealt a death blow to MQM-P in Karachi which had long been a MQM bastion.

Veteran MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar lost in both the constituencies he contested from: NA-245 Karachi East 4 and NA-247 Karachi South 2.

In NA-245 Farooq Sattar lost to PTI candidate Aamir Liaquat Hussain, who won NA-245 Karachi East 4 with 56,615 votes. The MQM-P leader was left trailing in second place with 35,247 votes. Muhammad Ahmed Raza of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was in third place with 20,580 votes.

The other constituency from which Sattar was contesting also proved to be nothing short of a nightmare for him. In NA-247, Farooq Sattar lost to PTI as well as TLP. PTI candidate Arif Alvi won NA-247 Karachi South 2 with 91,020 votes. TLP’s Syed Zaman Ali Jafri was the runner-up with 24,680 votes, and Sattar ended up in third spot with a mere 24,146 votes.

Published in Daily Times, July 28^th 2018.