Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti on Monday announced to file a petition in the Balochistan High Court to postpone elections in Sibi division on account of failure of rehabilitation of Bugti refugees to their area.
Addressing a press conference at Bugti House, he said during its hearing in Islamabad four months ago, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued directives to the Balochistan chief secretary to ensure the that 44,000 Bugti refugees got their national identity cards and ordered enlisting them in the electoral lists, but the courts’ orders had not been implemented yet.
He said the non-implementation of the court orders amounted to contempt of court and under such circumstances, holding fair elections in Kohlu and Dera Bugti was not possible.
The JWP leader said another candidate contesting on both National and provincial assembly seats from Kohlu district, Changaiz Marri, had also said that names of 40,000 people were not included in the electoral lists in his constituency.
He said he and his family members were promised by the administration to set up polling booths in the areas where Bugti refugees had settled temporarily so that they could use their right to vote.
But after consultation with friends, he came to the conclusion that such trend would boost the interference of the institutions who could use their vote against true representative and could bring to fore a dummy leadership.
