Karachi re-polling: PTI leads as MQM condemns ‘fake’ re-balloting

• Unofficial results put PTI candidates ahead of others
• Naimatullah of JI, Zia of PML-N and Khalid of ANP running up
• MQM says turnout ranged between 10 to 15 percent
• PPP attends funeral prayer of slain PTI leader

Sunday saw residents of NA-250, PS-112 and PS-113 constituencies of Karachi re-casting their votes in 43 out of 180 polling stations of the above-mentioned constituencies in a relartively peaceful environment ensured by the presence of army troops.

The security arrangements for the re-polling were watertight as personnel from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Rangers and police were on high alert in and outside the polling stations to deal with any untoward situation.

The vote-counting for the said constituencies was underway until the filing of this report, with unofficial results showing PTI candidates Arif Alvi for NA-250, Khurram Sher Zaman for PS-112 and Samar Ali Khan for PS-113 leading the race.

Naimatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Khalid Iqbal of ANP and Saleem Zia of PML-N appeared to be major competitors against the PTI candidates in NA-250, PS-112 and PS-113, respectively.

By 9pm Sunday, results of 26 out of 43 polling stations for NA-250 put Alvi in front with 8,522 votes, followed by Naimatullah Khan who bagged 201 votes.

Results for 11 out of 33 total polling stations of PS-113 put Samar having bagged 2,403 votes against Zia’s 464. For PS-112, unofficial results for seven polling stations had so far come to the fore, with PTI’s Zaman topping the list with 2,581 votes compared to 177 votes of ANP’s Khalid.

This was much in conformity with the widely-held perception that the PTI, in the absence of potential but boycotting contenders from MQM, PPP and Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), would be the hot favourite for sweeping Sunday’s re-polls in Clifton and Defence areas.

MQM leader Farooq Sattar, however, condemned what he called “fake, unjust and partial” re-polling in which average turnout was not more than 10 to 15 percent.

“Not more than 10 percent people turned up to the fake re-polling. It means the residents of Clifton and Defence also boycotted the election,” he claimed.

This, he said, was despite that fact that Sunday was a public holiday when the voters were free to come out for balloting that he said was a show of “nepotism” and “favouritism”.

An ECP official, however, said the turnout for Sunday’s partial re-polling could only be determined after the results were announced. He, however, had no idea when the results would officially be made public.

Visiting various polling stations earlier in the day, PTI’s leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said his side would react accordingly once a legal action was taken by the MQM.

He said Karachiites had rid themselves of the fear under which they were breathing hard for years by coming out to vote despite the brutal killing of a PTI leader.

He said the mandate of Karachi had changed in PTI’s favour, a claim he said could materialise if free and fair elections were held in the city.

While the MQM is exchanging barbs with the PTI, its former coalition partners from PPP seem to have stuck to its reconciliation-driven policy approach, as PPP leaders participated in the funeral prayers of PTI’s slain female official.

A party statement said PPP’s Senator Saeed Ghani, Latif Mughal and Abdul Aziz Memon participated in last rituals of the “PTI’s martyred leader” and expressed their condolences to the grieved family.