ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has referred the case pertaining to Karachi’s PS-114 vote recount to election tribunal on Thursday (today).
Following Pakistan Peoples Party’s Saeed Ghani’s victory in the by-polls, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) had filed a petition alleging that results of PS-114 by-polls had been tampered with.
The MQM had also pleaded with the commission to allow recounting of the votes of the entire constituency and called for a verification of thumb impressions of all voters through the National Database and Registration Authority.
At the other day’s hearing, MQM’s counsel Farogh Naseem told the Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza Khan that rules had been violated during the counting of votes in 21 polling stations of the constituency.
He added that the returning officer did not issue a notice to his client, Tessori, when the votes were being counted.
However, PPP’s Saeed Ghani’s counsel Aitzaz Ahsan said people voted for PPP following MQM severing ties with its founder, Altaf Hussain.
Ahsan had added that MQM-Pakistan should take the matter up with the election tribunal if they did not agree with results of the by-election.
On July 13, the ECP had withheld the notification of Karachi’s PS-114 by-election result, where Pakistan Peoples Party’s Saeed Ghani had proven to be victorious.
Moreover, a ballot box was discovered from a private car in Karachi’s Mehmoodabad area on Wednesday, which led to MQM restating its claims that results of PS-114 by-polls had been tampered with.
On July 9, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Saeed Ghani won the PS-114 Karachi by-polls, by taking 23,840 votes. Ghani was followed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Kamran Tessori, who secured 18,106 votes.