The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a statement rejecting the “discussion and unhappiness” over the way Senate polls were conducted.
“It is a shocking matter that under the same staff in the same [election] under the same roof on the same day, [what they won] is acceptable and [what they lost] is unacceptable. Is this not [an] open contradiction?” questioned the commission.
A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had criticised the election watchdog for allowing “foul play” in the elections for the upper house of the parliament.
“The ECP rejects this,” Friday’s statement added. “This is democracy and free elections and the beauty of free elections which the entire nation saw and which is mandated by the Constitution.”
Every political party and politician should have the courage to accept its defeat, it said.
The electoral body said that if someone disagreed with the ECP’s results, they should come forward with evidence.
“We have neither come under pressure from anybody and neither will we [do so in the future].”
The ECP’s statement came after an urgent meeting was convened following the premier’s accusations.
Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday emerged victorious against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
After the result was announced, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and the former prime minister shook hands and hugged each other.
The news of Hafeez’s defeat was told to him by Zain Qureshi — who was the minister’s polling agent — following which the two men embraced each other.
Gilani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 votes. Out of the total number of 341 votes, 6 were rejected and 1 was not polled.
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz celebrated the win in their tweets.
Democracy is the best revenge. Jeya Bhutto!
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) March 3, 2021
PMLN MNAs not only stood by MNS and made him proud, they also celebrated the success & vindication. Alhamdolillah! What scenes ! pic.twitter.com/SVs2y0BVqN
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) March 3, 2021
Nawaz Sharif also tweeted, congratulating Gilani on the win.
My sincerest felicitations to Mr. Yousuf Raza Gilani on his glorious victory in the Senate elections.
PTI’s Shaukat Yousafzai also called a press conference, asking who voted for Gilani and alleged that money had a role to play. He also questioned the veracity of the results.
The votes were done by secret ballot and it will be difficult for the government to determine who voted for whom.
As the country witnesses what are being termed by pundits as the “most controversial” Senate polls in its 74-year history, it has emerged that joint opposition’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani met with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen days before the critical electoral process marred by horse-trading allegations.
Sources claim that Gilani, who is the Upper House candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from Islamabad besides being a critical election for the opposition to give the ruling PTI a tough time, met Tareen at the wedding of another ruling party lawmaker’s son.
Interestingly, both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart and Tareen, who reports claim is at odds with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government since after the sugar crisis scandal, have over the days leading to the Senate elections denied having met each other.
“I have always strived for the PTI with my heart and soul and my support is always for the party,” Tareen was quoted as saying when he denied the meeting of which The Current also has photographic evidence.
The former premier, on the other hand, had also refuted speculation that he met Tareen. “I have neither met Jahangir Tareen neither established contact with him,” he had told media persons on the same day as the PTI leader.
“The two spent quite a lot of time at the wedding of veteran politician and PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana’s son on February 11. They exchanged pleasantries and were seen dining together on top of spending almost all their time at the event with each other,” sources told The Current.
Sources, however, could not confirm the topics of discussion between the two leaders from rival parties and if then-forthcoming Senate polls or Gilani’s election, in particular, were among the things discussed between Gilani and Tareen.
While Tareen and Gilani could not be reached out for a comment, another attendee of the said event, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has confirmed the encounter.
Speaking to The Current, Sadiq said that Fatyana has good relations in each and every party and he had known the now PTI and former PML-N leader since the year 2000.
“We have been colleagues since 2002. At his son’s wedding, I was the only MNA from PML-N. Gilani Sahib was the only one from PPP during the one hour I was there. If others came later, I have no idea. But there was no discussion on the issue of Senate at all.”
While Sadiq did confirm Tareen’s presence and exchange of pleasantries between the politicians, he said that he did not notice any interaction between Gilani and Tareen for as long as he himself was there.
A contest for the crucial Islamabad seat in the Senate is currently underway between Gilani and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The vote count is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.
With less than 24 hours to go, another controversy has come to the fore regarding the Senate elections.
A leaked video of Ali Haider Gillani – son of former Prime Yousaf Raza Gillani – was aired by ARY News, where he is heard talking about how to waste Senate vote.
It seems that the other person is from the ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). According to reports, the video was recorded a week ago.
Addressing a press conference after the leaked video was aired, Ali Haider Gillani admitted the video was real and that he met more than one MNA over the course of campaigning for his father.
He said he was not buying votes but was telling PTI member of how to waste his vote as that member did not want to vote for his own party.
“Where do I talk about money in the video? I did no wrong. This is to distract us.”
The Election Commission of Pakistan has taken notice of the video and Gillani’s response and will be taking up the issue.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday held a meeting to discuss the strategy ahead of the Senate election.
Addressing a joint press conference in Lahore, Maryam claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was increasingly becoming unpopular within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Maryam added that she hoped that every pro-democracy would oppose Imran Khan in the Senate elections.
The PML-N vice president also reaffirmed her support for joint opposition candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani, saying the PML-N fully backs Gillani.
“I hope every pro-democracy person will not vote for the PTI [in the Senate elections] because we think the PTI is guilty of crimes against the people and Imran Khan is guilty of crimes against the nation,” added Maryam.
Talking to reporters, PPP chief Bilawal said that the government had suffered defeats in the recent by-elections. “The people have rejected them in every by-election,” he said.
According to the PPP chairman, the PDM’s decision to contest the by-polls and the upcoming Senate elections has made the government anxious about its future.
The PPP leader said that the PDM was not bringing about a no-confidence movement against the government at the moment and was only contesting the Senate elections.
Speaking about the Senate elections, the PPP head said his party would ask every lawmaker for a vote in the Senate election.
Bilawal said that the PDM believed in the constitution and in the principal that each democratic government should complete its constitutional tenure. However, he said that the current system was an unjust one where political allies of the incumbent government were “tied together” to it by force.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that his ministry has developed a technology for electronic voting which would be transferred to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) soon to ensure transparency.
Last week, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had ordered the relevant authorities to expedite efforts to introduce the e-voting system.
According to APP, the Science and Technology Ministry has developed the e-voting technology in collaboration with the National Institute of Electronics (NIE), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), and COMSATS University.
“Electronic voting can help get rid of rigging in elections,” Fawad said in a reference to the new technology. According to Fawad, the government had also presented election reform bill for adopting electronic voting system in elections to end malpractices.
The minister stated that the opposition complained of rigging in the by-polls only in the constituency where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate allegedly won. However, their own candidates won in Nowshera and Wazirabad which they accepted happily, he added.
The minister further said, “Although we had spent crore of rupees in the past in by-elections in each union council during the whole week, but when late Kalsoom Nawaz contested by-election [in Lahore], Rs3 billion were spent in a single constituency without any audit.
Rejecting the baseless claims of Maryam Nawaz regarding a delay in results in Daska, Chaudhry Fawad said “We do not live on Mars and are well aware of the fog situation in the area.” He demanded the ECP issue a formal notification about the winning of PTI candidate, Ali Asjad Malhi from NA-75 (Daska).
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair said his party refused to nominate him for a Senate seat because of the criticism levelled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry.
Zubair, who appeared on Kashif Abbasi’s show on ARY News alongside Fawad, said that the minister is very fond of giving lectures on morality to the opposition that became the reason for his party’s refusal to award him a ticket. “I hope Fawad will also pay heed when it’s the opposition turn to give such lectures,” he added.
Zubair, who is also the spokesperson of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, said he wanted a Senate ticket from Punjab even though he is a representative of Sindh being its resident and the governor, but the PML-N decided against it because it wanted to set standards for the award of Senate tickets. And Fawad also talked about setting standards, especially in my case, Zubair said.
According to Zubair, Fawad had opposed his potential nomination for Senate, saying Zubair entry into Senate would damage the “quality” of the upper house.
However, when the host asked Fawad, he said Zubair probably didn’t get the Senate ticket because the party wanted to nominate party leaders Nehal Hashmi and Mushahidullah for the coveted seats.
Zubair, however, defended the award of the Senate ticket to the deceased PML-N lawmaker, saying Mushahidullah had been living in Punjab – Islamabad – for over a decade now and his nomination from Punjab was justified.
The ailing PML-N lawmaker, Mushahidullah, passed away in the wee hours of Thursday hours after the show was broadcasted.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Pervaiz Rasheed’s nomination papers for the upcoming Senate polls were on Thursday rejected over non-payment of room rent to Punjab House in Islamabad.
According to reports, the Punjab government has accused the ex-information minister of defaulting on payments over Rs2.6 million (Rs26 lacs) for his stay at the residency for 759 days.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Zainab Omar had filed an objection against Rasheed through her lawyer Rana Mudassar to the returning officer/provincial election commissioner in Lahore.
Speaking to media, Rasheed described the move to reject his nomination papers as a vindictive act on behalf of the government.
The PML-N leader accused Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan of not tolerating criticism, adding that efforts were being made to keep him out of the parliament.
Rasheed accused the government of preparing a fake “demand” against him. “To dispose of this fake demand, I am ready to make the payment,” said the senior PML-N leader.
The PML-N leader said that he wanted to pay the dues to the Punjab House but its management was not accepting it. “You can close the doors on me, but you can’t stop my voice,” he said, addressing the government.
“I will appeal against the decision to reject my nomination papers,” he said and alleged that fake cases against PML-N leaders were being made, accusing the government of keeping political opponents at bay.
Supreme Court judge Ijazul Ahsan, while hearing presidential reference pertaining to the secret ballot in the Senate elections, said that the votes cast in the election cannot remain “secret forever”.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed urged Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to consider recommendations presented by Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan and submit a response to the top court. Raza Rabbani, who is representing the opposition in the case, opposed this, saying the attorney general would share the government’s point of view on the issue.
The SC had grilled the Election Commission of Pakistan over its response on the secret ballot on Tuesday. Today, the ECP in its reply maintained that the Senate elections can only be held through secret voting under Article 226 until an amendment is made.
As per the article, the voting in the election would “always remain secret”, the ECP informed the bench. Justice Ahsan remarked that the “secrecy of the vote till the Day of Judgement is neither in the law nor in court judgements”.
The judge further said if any party got less number of seats in the Senate as compared to its seats in the provincial assemblies then the ECP will be responsible. “If [any party] does not get [the number of seats] in relation to its seats in the provincial assemblies, it will be the ECP’s defeat.”
At this, the election commission tried to assuage the court’s concerns, saying the ECP has set up a vigilance committee and an online complaints centre. All election candidates will be required to take an oath that they would not buy or sell votes, the ECP representative added.
He informed the court that more than 1,100 complaints had been received since September. “Whatever complaints the ECP receives regarding elections, action is taken on them immediately.”
Justice Mushir Alam observed that the matter of secrecy was part of the Elections Act 2017 but the question was to what extent would secrecy be applicable.
During the hearing, the attorney general said ECP needs to wake up from its slumber and formulate a mechanism to stop horse-trading. AGP Khan said the ECP should ask the heads of political parties whether any seat adjustment was done. Barcodes or serial numbers could be printed on ballot papers, he suggested.
Meanwhile, the chief justice refused to entertain the Pakistan Bar Council’s plea, saying the PBC won’t be heard on political matters.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding member Akbar S Babar, who also filed a case against the PTI over illegal funding in 2014, claimed that a friend of Prime Minister Imran Khan offered him the Senate chairmanship if he agrees to withdraw the foreign funding case against the PTI.
“A friend of Imran Khan offered me the post of chairman Senate,” he said, adding that he had “rejected all offers since I am on a noble purpose”.
According to the former PTI leader, he had been threatened and cases had been filed against him for pursuing his case against the party over illegal funding.
Meanwhile, the PTI has termed the allegations of Babar as baseless. In a statement, the PTI said that Babar was not offered any kind of position by the PTI. “He is blackmailing the party for the last eight years and no leader of the PTI has contacted him nor made any such offer. It is an attempt by him to raise his political stature.”
FOREIGN FUNDING CASE:
Meanwhile, the PTI has disowned the statement of its central finance secretary wherein he claimed that the funds from the United Arab Emirates were transferred to the accounts of four of its paid employees.
Last week, a document submitted to the ECP revealed that the PTI employees were authorised to receive donations from within and outside Pakistan. The document, quoted by Dawn, had revealed the names of employees that included PTI’s telephone operator Tahir Iqbal, computer operator Muhammad Nauman Afzal, accountant Mohammad Arshad and office helper Mohammad Rafiq.
Subsequently, an application was filed by Akbar S Babar, demanding all the personal front accounts of four PTI employees be requisitioned from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to ascertain the scope of the illegal fundraising.
However, in a response filed before the ECP’s Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, the PTI stated the “respondent does not own such statement made by any of the office-bearers of PTI”.
This is not the first time that the PTI has disowned a statement. Earlier, its counsel in the ECP had rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement wherein the premier agreed to the open hearing of the foreign funding case.
