Former ECP secy joins complainants’ league over polls rigging

• Submits petition with JC, lamenting printing of extra ballot papers, wastage of money on buying ‘magic ink’, acting CEC’s ‘uncalled for’ role

Amidst rigging investigation, former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad has submitted a petition before the judicial commission (JC), asking the commission to take into consideration the aspect of “organised rigging” in General Election 2013.

According to the petition, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, Dilshad cited the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP)’s report that Rs 90 million was “wasted on magic ink” despite the fact that “good quality normal ink” could have done the same job at one-fourth of the money spent.

The petition disclosed that former chief election commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Fakharuddin G Ibrahim was visiting India between August 18, 2012 and August 20, 2012 and in his absence, the acting CEC Justice (r) Tasaduq Hussain Jillani wrote a policy letter to the Supreme Court, requisitioning the services of judicial officers to be appointed as returning officers (RO).

The petition renders acting CEC’s act to be extraordinary and un-called for, since there was no urgency in the matter.

Moreover, the petitioner claims that over 1.5 million votes were rejected in the 2013 general elections, far more than the number of ballots rejected in the 2002 and 2008 elections. There were 13 National Assembly constituencies where over 10,000 votes were rejected, while 150 constituencies saw anywhere between five and 10 thousand votes rejected. Six of the 13 constituencies, where over 10,000 votes were rejected, are in Sindh, five are in Punjab and one each in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The highest number of rejected ballots 25,562 was recorded in Balochistan’s NA-266 (Nasirabad-cum-Jaffarabad), where former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, contesting as an independent candidate, had defeated the independent Mir Saleem Ahmad Khosa by a margin of 5,861 votes, Dilshad said in the petition.

Raising objection over printing of ballots, petition said that private companies had printed over 9.42 million extra papers.

“Between May 9 and 10, 2013, 93 ROs were changed from polling stations, which is a violation of Section 8(2) of Peoples Act (1976),” Dilshad said, further suggesting that the tenure of the government should be reduced to four years.

“The speed of technology has directly impacted the velocity of time, therefore the window of opportunity for a government to perform should be rationalised in line with the aspirations of the people. The consistency of good policies should be ensured through more inclusive and integrated role of the Senate,” Dilshad advised.