Tag: Daska by-polls

  • ‘Find those who opened fire on my house,’ PML-N’s Khurram Dastgir tells Punjab govt

    Unidentified suspects opened fire on the side gate of senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir’s house Sunday night, he revealed in a press conference on Tuesday, reports Geo News.

    He called the firing incident a “failure of [the] Punjab government to enforce law and order” in the province.

    “You could not find the kidnappers of the presiding officers in the Daska by-polls. At least find those who opened fire on my house,” Dastgir said.

     “The firing on my house was a conspiracy to harass the Opposition,” said Dastgir.

    Dastgir also said that women and children were present inside the house when the incident took place.

    He said that no action was taken, despite the administration being informed about it.

  • ‘ECP should ask IT Ministry, not PTA for phone data,’ says Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘ECP should ask IT Ministry, not PTA for phone data,’ says Fawad Chaudhry

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has approached the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to share the call record data of the 20 presiding officers who went ‘missing’ during the Daska by-polls in NA-75, The News has reported.

    Last week, the ECP had announced that new elections in the entire constituency will be held in NA-75 (Daska) after its returning officer alleged irregularities during the by-polls in a report submitted to the commission. Government sources told The News that the PTA has asked the government whether to share the data with the ECP or not.

    Speaking to The Current, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that the ECP has all the right to secure phone data though it “should ask the IT Ministry and not PTA under rules of business”.

    According to the story published in The News, the government may be uneasy about the phone data as it could reveal who had planned and supervised the Daska by-poll rigging. The phone records “will not only establish the whereabouts of these 20 presiding officers during the time when they were missing but will also uncover those they were in contact with”.

    On February 22, Prime Minister Imran Khan had tweeted that as he had always struggled for fair and free elections, he would ask the PTI candidate in NA-75 to ask for re-polling in the 20 polling stations that had become controversial. But the ECP later called for new elections in the entire constituency.

    The PTI has now decided to challenge the ECP’s decision for re-polls.

  • Rigging: ECP announces re-election on Daska seat, summons IG and chief secretary

    Rigging: ECP announces re-election on Daska seat, summons IG and chief secretary

    The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that new elections will be held in NA-75 (Daska) after its returning officer alleged irregularities during the by-polls in a report submitted to the commission on Tuesday.

    The election watchdog has said that new elections in the constituency will be held on March 18, two weeks after the Senate elections. According to the ECP, polling will be held in all stations of the NA-75 (Sialkot-IV) instead of a mere 14 because elections weren’t transparent.

    The chief election commissioner (CEC) stated that the ECP came to the conclusion that a “conducive environment was not available for the candidates and voters and the election had not been conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in a transparent manner”.

    According to Section 9 of the Election Act, the ECP has the power to declare a poll void if “the commission is satisfied that by reason of grave illegalities …have materially affected the result of the poll at one or more polling stations … it can call upon voters to recast their votes.”

    ‘IG, SECRETARY SUMMONED’:

    Meanwhile, the election watchdog has decided to suspend the concerned government officials, particularly the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner, district police officer over rigging in the election. The ECP has also sought an explanation from the police chief of Punjab and the chief secretary, said senior journalist Ansar Abbasi.

    The presiding officers, who went “missing” and submitted forged result after several hours, will face trial for their part in the electoral manipulation.

    RIGGING IN BY-POLLS:

    In a plea to the ECP, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had alleged that Daska by-polls were hijacked by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the final results were changed to favour Ali Asjad Malhi of the PTI. The vice president of the party, Maryam Nawaz, had also shared a number of videos to back her claims up. She had demanded fresh elections in Daska.

    Subsequently, the ECP withheld the results in NA-75 and started a probe into the rigging allegations. The commission had said results of the NA-75 constituency were received with “unnecessary delay”, adding that it tried to contact the presiding officers several times but with no success.

    During his appearance before the Election Commission of Pakistan committee on Tuesday, RO Athar Abbas had said that the initial investigation revealed that the presiding officers of at least 20 polling stations manipulated the result.

    The RO’s report quoted by Dawn said at least 20 presiding officers went missing for an entire night after the vote count at their station. It added that the presiding officers also appeared before the ECP panel after much delay.

    “The replies of almost all the presiding officers were stereotype that they were able to complete the counting process by 10 to 10.30pm and started back journey to the office of returning officer on the transport provided by the Election Commission and in escort of police but due to fog, they reached the office of returning officer at about 4.30am and most of them stated their phone batteries were low and they were having no chargers, in response to the questions that they were supposed to send snapshots of the result of the count through WhatsApp but they did not do the same,” the report read.

    As per the report, there was no discrepancy in the record of three out of 23 polling stations from where the presiding officers had disappeared. The returning officer has proposed re-polling at 14 polling stations were there was a marked difference between the number of polled votes in two different sets of form-45.

    On Friday, at least two people were shot dead as a result of firing at the polling place in Daska.

  • Daska by-polls: RO proposes re-polling at 14 stations over discrepancies in results

    Daska by-polls: RO proposes re-polling at 14 stations over discrepancies in results

    Daska (NA-75) by-polls Returning Officer Athar Abbas has proposed re-polling at 14 stations, saying the presiding officers were seemingly involved in tampering with the final result.

    During his appearance before the Election Commission of Pakistan committee on Tuesday, Abbas said that the initial investigation has revealed that the presiding officers manipulated the result. The ECP has taken up a plea filed by PML-N candidate from the constituency Nousheen Iftikhar. The five-member bench which heard the case was headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

    According to the PML-N candidate, she got 5,000 votes from the contested polling stations against PTI leader Ali Asjad Malhi’s 6,705 votes. The number of rejected votes was 139 and turnout remained at 45.16 per cent.

    Whereas, the form-45 sent in by presiding officers after a delay of six hours showed that the vote gap between the PML-N and PTI candidates was 9,263 instead of 1,705. The form puts the number of rejected votes at 1,731 and the turnout at 75.34pc.

    The RO’s report quoted by Dawn said at least 20 presiding officers went missing for an entire night after the vote count at their station. It added that the presiding officers also appeared before the ECP panel after much delay.

    “The replies of almost all the presiding officers were stereotype that they were able to complete the counting process by 10 to 10.30pm and started back journey to the office of returning officer on the transport provided by the Election Commission and in escort of police but due to fog, they reached the office of returning officer at about 4.30am and most of them stated their phone batteries were low and they were having no chargers, in response to the questions that they were supposed to send snapshots of the result of the count through WhatsApp but they did not do the same,” the report read.

    As per the report, there was no discrepancy in the record of three out of 23 polling stations from where the presiding officers had disappeared. The returning officer has proposed re-polling at 14 polling stations were there was a marked difference between the number of polled votes in two different sets of form-45.

    On Friday, at least two people were shot dead as a result of firing at the polling place. Both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had alleged irregularities during the by-election on the National Assembly seat in Daska. Subsequently, the ECP withheld the results, saying it suspected irregularities in 20 polling stations.

    The commission had said results of the NA-75 constituency were received with “unnecessary delay”, adding that it tried to contact the presiding officers several times but with no success.

    In the backdrop of these allegations, the PM, in a series of tweet on Monday night, reaffirmed his pledge to hold transparent elections in Pakistan. “Have always struggled for fair & free elections. So even though there is no legal compulsion to do so before ECP announces results, I would request our PTI candidate to ask for re-polling in the 20 polling stations Opposition is crying hoarse over in the Daska NA 75 by- election,” Imran had tweeted.

  • ‘Siyanay’: Maryam reacts to PM Imran’s demand for re-polling in NA-75

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan after the latter said he would ask the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate in Daska by-polls to demand re-polling in 20 polling stations of the constituency amid rigging allegations.

    On Friday, at least two people were shot dead as a result of firing at the polling place. Both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had alleged irregularities during the by-election on the National Assembly seat in Daska. Subsequently, the ECP withheld the results, saying it suspected irregularities in 20 polling stations.

    The commission had said results of the NA-75 constituency were received with “unnecessary delay”, adding that it tried to contact the presiding officers several times but with no success.

    In the backdrop of these allegations, the PM, in a series of tweet on Monday night, reaffirmed his pledge to hold transparent elections in Pakistan. “Have always struggled for fair & free elections. So even though there is no legal compulsion to do so before ECP announces results, I would request our PTI candidate to ask for re-polling in the 20 polling stations Opposition is crying hoarse over in the Daska NA 75 by- election,” Imran had tweeted.

    “It is because we want transparency that we are seeking open ballot for Senate elections,” said Imran in reference to the upcoming elections in Senate that have become controversial after the government promulgated an ordinance to end secret ballot amid protests by the opposition.

    But the PML-N VP who had alleged irregularities in the by-election took exception to the remarks made by the PM. She said that the premier was trying to hide rigging by making such claims.

    “Don’t try to be a know-it-all. You tried to manipulate elections using the full force of the state machinery, but when you lost the by-election you abducted the staffer of the Election Commission. Your decision to support re-polling is an attempt to hide your crime [of rigging], but you have been caught red-handed. Vote thief,” she wrote on her Twitter handle.

  • NA-75 by-polls: Maryam joins in on ‘Pawri ho rahi ha’ trend, uses it to call out ‘rigging’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has also joined in on the ‘Pawri Ho Rahi Ha’ trend, as she used it to call out alleged rigging reportedly carried out by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government during the NA-75 by-polls in Daska, Sialkot.

    ‘Pawri‘ trend went viral earlier this month, with celebrities from across the sub-continent adding to its popularity.

    During her address in Daska, Maryam said: “Yeh dhund hai, yeh Daska hai, aur Imran Khan awam ka vote chori kartay huay range haathon pakra gya hai [This is fog, this is Daska, and this is Imran Khan getting caught red-handed while stealing votes].”

    Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the PML-N vice president said that the events that transpired in the aftermath of voting in Daska have exposed the PTI government. She said the government’s alleged plan to steal votes was foiled by people who guarded their vote.

    The PML-N vice president accused the ruling party of taking the “20 presiding officers” hostage. She questioned why out of the 361 polling stations, the staff of only 20 polling stations had to go missing during the “fog” and why were the results of these polling stations suddenly changed when the officers returned after 12 hours.

    On Friday, at least two people were shot dead as both PML-N and the PTI alleged irregularities during the by-election on the National Assembly seat in Daska. Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan withheld the results, saying it suspected irregularities in 20 polling stations.

    The commission said results of the NA-75 constituency were received with “unnecessary delay”, adding that it tried to contact the presiding officers several times but with no success.