It seems that PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat’s vote during the Senate elections may have been rejected by the Election Commission.
Liaquat appeared on private TV Channel program on Friday and said that he ticked the box with his party’s candidate’s name on the ballot paper.
“Sir, you don’t sign the ballot paper,” he said while taking a jibe at party member Shehryar Afrid, who reportedly cast his vote incorrectly. “You were not writing cheques. You have to tick [the box for the candidate] it.”
He claimed that Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost against PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gillani because of “blunders” by party members.
The Naya Din host once again asked Liaquat if MNAs have to write 1 on the ballot paper or put a tick mark.“No, no you have to tick it,” Liaquat remarked.
When asked if he was briefed about the party on the voting process, he said that he is a “seasoned” politician.
“If I am sitting on the plane, should I listen to the same old instructions on wearing belts and how to use oxygen masks? I close my ears because I already know this is what happens in an airplane. Similarly, I also know what happens in Parliament.”
PTI’s Kanwal Shauzab, who was responsible for training the party legislators on the right way to cast votes, disagreed with Liaquat.
She held a ballot paper that they had printed for a mock exercise and explained the procedure. “It’s very simple.
You have to write I in the box of the candidate you want to vote for. There are no stamps, no signatures, or anything else.” You have to write I with a ballpoint pen, she said.
If the MNAs want to waste their vote then they will end up ticking the box, writing another number, or put a cross there, she claimed, adding that these are the instructions Ali Raza Gillani’s son was seen giving MNAs in his leaked video.
Former Election Commission of Pakistan secretary Kunwar Dilshad agreed with Shauzab. “Aamir Liaquat’s point of view is not correct.”
“The booklet that the ECP publishes has clear instructions that you have to write I in roman. Not ONE or 1.” You can not put a circle around it or any other mark, he said. “Usually people who mark the ballot paper incorrectly do it intentionally.
