-Orders re-election on March 18th
-Decides to suspend Daska DC, DPO, AC
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ruled that a re-election be held in the entire NA-75 Daska constituency after suspicions that the results may have been falsified.
The ECP, while hearing an application by PML-N candidate Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, declared the by-poll held in the constituency on February 19 as null and void. A five-member commission, headed by the chief election commissioner, announced the decision and ordered that fresh elections be held in Daska on March 18.
The order was issued using the powers conferred on the ECP under Article 218 (3) of the Constitution and Article 19 (1) of the Election Act, 2017. It noted that “on the day of the election, chaos was spread in the entire constituency.”
Reacting to the decision, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who was the most vocal in demands for a re-election in NA-75, said “the people of Daska have gotten back their right.”
Referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan, she wrote that the “fake sadiq and ameen (honest and righteous) has been issued the certificate of vote thief” through the ECP verdict.
“Vote thief Imran Khan also turned out to be a kidnapper,” she alleged. In another tweet, Maryam said the echo of her father and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s narrative of “vote ko izzat do (honour the vote)” was being heard “throughout the country”.
“Thanks to the people of Daska who not only voted but also guarded their vote and handed over the vote thieves to the authorities after catching them red-handed.” Maryam’s spokesperson Muhammad Zubair also spoke to the reporters and said that the government was “caught red-handed”, adding that the ruling party “adopted tactics that even the ECP was surprised”.
Zubair went on to say that the atmosphere in NA-75 on the day of the election was not conducive for voters, citing a firing incident in which two people were killed and three were injured. The former Sindh governor accused Prime Minister Imran of being at the “forefront of the conspiracy” and said that criminal proceedings should be initiated against the latter.
PML-N candidate Iftikhar termed the decision as a “historic” one and thanked her voters for casting their ballots despite being beaten by batons and sticks. “This is a historic decision which has set an example for coming elections,” she said. “I congratulate people of NA-75 whose battle I fought. “Today they got their right, their constitutional and democratic right which every Pakistani deserves.”
Meanwhile, Information Minister Shibli Faraz told reporters that the ruling party will consult its legal team and consider all available options. Visibly frustrated, Faraz also bashed the PML-N, saying that the party “accepts its victory but not its defeat”. The minister said that the PML-N practised “politics of money, force and hooliganism” which led to a “weakened democracy”.
The information minister went on to say that he was “proud” that PTI’s promises about freeing institutions from authorities’ pressure had been fulfilled. “What is more important for us is that institutions are completely free,” said the federal minister. He insisted that the party respected the decisions of the institutions. When a reporter inquired about ECP’s comments on the Punjab government’s poor management of the NA-75 by-poll, Faraz told him to “quit journalism” and walked away.
Earlier during the hearing today, PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar addressed the ‘disappearance’ of the staff of 20 polling stations in the constituency and said that it was “not right to say that a delay in results means they were altered”. “The manner of delay can give rise to suspicion [that] results were altered,” ECP’s Sindh member responded. Barrister Zafar pointed out that there was no set time for presiding officers to report at the returning officer’s office.
