Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail has requested the chief election commissioner (CEC) to take emergency steps for taking the custody of the NA-249 by-election record, which is currently under the custody of the police.

Miftah Ismail in his plea has sought emergency action by CEC to seize sealed ballot papers and other election material used in NA-249 by-polls. He stated that the election material should be kept at a secure location until the emergence of the final results of the by-polls.

He demanded the CEC to keep the election material at a safe location under the supervision of Rangers or Pakistan Army. He thanked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for issuing a stay order on the results of NA-249 by-election.

Ismail claimed that the majority of presiding officers (POs) and election staff belonged to the Sindh government, who illegally supported the provincial government, adding every political party has filed its complaints against it.

He expressed suspicions over the security of the ballot papers that are currently under the custody of the police forces which is a subordinate department of the Sindh government. He added that suspicions are prevailing for changes in the ballot papers, counter files, ballot paper accounts and stamped copies of electoral lists.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with regard to a petition challenging NA-249 by-poll results.

According to details, the PPP has established a legal team comprising Farooq H Naek, Latif Khosa, Qadir Khan Mandokhel and others that would plead the party’s case before the election commission.

Divulging details on the matter, the PPP candidate who won from NA-249, Qadir Khan Mandokhel said that he would be leaving for Islamabad from Karachi on Monday to appear before the ECP. “The PPP will respond to every query raised by the ECP and will present evidence of transparency during polls if needed,” he said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a stay order on NA-249 by-poll results on Saturday after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail challenged the results. Other than issuing a stay order, the ECP also set a hearing on the petition of Miftah Ismail for May 04. However, the election commission had turned down pleas of PTI and PML-N candidates seeking recounting of votes cast in Thursday’s NA-249 Karachi by-election.

During the by-polls, PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhail won the election by securing 16,150 votes, according to unofficial results. PML-N’s Miftah Ismail was the runner-up with 15,473 votes. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s Mufti Nazeer Kamalvi clinched the third position with 11,125 votes, followed by Mustafa Kamal of the PSP who bagged 9,227 votes. PTI’s candidate Amjad Afridi had secured 8,922 votes while Hafiz Mursaleen of the MQM 7,511.