Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, was arrested on Tuesday by police for violating the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) amid the voting process during PS-88 by-polls.
The election commission has taken strict action against Haleem Adil Sheikh who was roaming freely in the PS-88 constituency along with his armed guards during the by-elections besides paying visits to different polling stations.The authorities have warned Haleem Adil Sheikh to immediately leave the premises of the constituency, however, he was later arrested by police after he refused to obey the ECP orders.
According to ECP’s election code of conduct, public office holders could not visit polling stations, whereas, the politician was consistently visiting different polling stations since 8:00 am today.The spokesperson added that Sheikh was involved in the violation of the election code of conduct, whereas, police and staff of other polling stations were informed about the situation.
It may be noted here that the central election cell of PS-88 sent written complaint to the ECP regarding the violation of the code of conduct by Haleem Adil Sheikh.M A Baloch, the provincial lawmaker’s spokesperson, confirmed that Sheikh had been detained by police officials in DarsanoChano area of Malir. However, the police have not commented on the situation so far. The constituency that mainly consists of the city’s suburbs in Malir saw an aggressive election campaign from all political parties, especially the PPP and the PTI.The seat fell vacant after Murtaza Baloch, the minister for human settlement, died of Covid-19 in June last year. The PPP has given ticket to his son, Yousuf Murtaza Baloch, to contest the by-election while the PTI candidate is Jan Sher Junejo.
As many as 108 polling stations have been set up in the constituency, out of which 36 have been declared “sensitive” and another 33 “highly sensitive”.Earlier today, the PPP wrote a letter to the ECP and urged it to take notice of the alleged rule violations by Sheikh.The letter by Taj Haider, the incharge of the PPP’s Central Election Cell, said Sheikh could be seen roaming the constituency with armed persons and was harassing voters. He also attached videos and pictures of Sheikh’s alleged misconduct.”Sheikh, being a member of the Sindh Assembly, is not permitted under the law to enter the constituency and that too with armed persons. He has been reported to have entered with armed persons in polling stations 20 and 22 of Bhitai Abad.”Voters are being taken to the PTI office situated in the area and being given parchis on the promise of being paid Rs12,000 under the Ehsaasprogramme if they vote for the PTI candidate,” the letter said.
The PPP urged the ECP to expel the provincial lawmaker and his armed guards from the constituency, and to take further suitable action.PPP Senator Sherry Rehman also took to social media to highlight the provincial lawmaker’s alleged misconduct. “By law, no MPA can enter the constituency while polling is ongoing, but [Sheikh] has flouted all laws,” she said.
Following up on the complaint, the Regional Election Commissioner Karachi issued a notification directing law enforcement authorities to “expel” Sheikh from the constituency till the culmination of the polling process.
