Staff Reporter Islamabad
Following the returning officer’s fears about alteration in the results of 20 polling stations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered to withhold the results of the NA-75 by-election on Saturday.
Election Commission, in a statement, said that Chief Election Commissioner contacted IGP Punjab, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to know the whereabouts of the missing polling staff. The authorities assured to trace the missing staff.
After much effort, presiding officers resurfaced along with polling bags about 6 am.
On the other, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday seized the electoral record of by-polls in NA-75 Daska after rigging allegations were leveled against each other in the constituency by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-N.
Provincial Election Commissioner Punjab Ghulam Israr Khan took custody of the record as a three-member inquiry committee would present its report on the matter to the Chief Election Commissioner of the ECP.
The statement further stated that it is not possible to release unofficial results without full inquiry into the incident; however, the district returning officer and returning officer are sending a report to the commission and the provincial election commissioner and joint provincial election commissioner has been directed to reach office of returning officers.
On the complaint of PML-N candidate on NA-75 Sialkot, the RO had forwarded reference to the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
Pakistan Muslim League-N candidate on NA-75 Nosheen Iftikhar had moved a plea to the CEC to withhold the results.
The ECP issued on Saturday afternoon an explanatory statement on the delay and suspension of the by-election results for the NA-75 Daska constituency.
According to police officials, the 23 polling officials had gotten stuck in far-flung areas of the constituency due to fog. In a late-night development, police had retrieved the officers and brought them to the office of the district returning officer, where leaders of PML-N and PTI were also present.
The ECP said the chief election commissioner tried contacting the Punjab IG and the relevant commissioner and deputy commissioner on receiving information from the district returning officer and returning officer about the presiding officers who had ‘gone missing’. The election commissioner, however, received no response.
The Punjab chief secretary was contacted around 3am after which he gave assurances of tracing the ‘missing’ presiding officers and polling bags for the NA-75 results, the ECP statement said. Later, he, too, became unavailable and stopped responding. The presiding officers eventually appeared with the polling bags by 6am.
The DRO and RO reported that the results of 20 polling stations in the NA-75 by-election are now suspected to have been rigged, so it is not possible to release the final result of the constituency without a full inquiry, the ECP said.
It added that the DRO will send a detailed report on the matter to the ECP. The statement said the ECP had instructed the DRO and RO to conduct a complete inquiry and identify those responsible. They have, meanwhile, been stopped from announcing the initial results for the by-election.
The ECP also directed the provincial election commissioner and joint provincial election commissioner to reach the office of the DRO and RO so that “[we] can reach the bottom of the matter and records can be completely protected”.
“This matter looks like a weakness of the administration and law enforcement agencies,” the ECP said.
Meanwhile, Federal ministers from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Saturday declared victory in the NA-75 by-polls even though the ECP said that the results may be falsified.
Hours after ECP’s statement came to light, Information Minister Shibli Faraz tweeted saying, “Results received by our polling agents in NA-75 Daska suggest we have won the election by over 7000 votes. An election we had lost by over 30000 in the last election.”
Shibli Faraz said that the Daska firing incident has proved that the PML-N believed in the politics of bullying, rigging and violence.
