ECP suspends Ali Madad’s victory in by-polls

QUETTA: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered the suspension of notification for the successful candidate, Haji Ali Madad Jattak.

The ECP also summoned a report from the Returning Officer on alleged rigging in the election results at 15 polling stations in the PB-45 constituency of the Balochistan Assembly.

On Saturday, the ECP issued a written order for the hearing of PB-45 case. A two-member bench had heard the case the previous day and ECP has now asked the Returning Officer for a report on PB-45. The commission has also sought a detailed response to the allegations made by the petitioner.

It should be noted that the petition was filed by JUI’s candidate Usman Pirkani, and the case was represented by Senator Kamran Murtaza, advocate.

The by-polls for PB-45 were held on January 5, in which Jattak was declared successful with 6,883 votes. Nasarullah Zerey of the Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party (PkNAP) came in second with 4,122 votes, while JUIF’s Mir Usman Pirkani received 3,731 votes. The voter turnout was 35.36 percent, with 17,752 valid votes.

After the announcement of the result, both JUIF and PkNAP protested separately, alleging rigging. A wheel-jam strike across Balochistan was also held by the JUIF in protest. The JUI claimed that their election agents, assembly members, and officials were being prevented from entering the DC office. They also claimed that they were victorious but at the last moment, Ali Madad Jattak’s few hundred votes were turned into thousands.

On the other hand, PkNAP’s Zerey not only accused Ali Madad Jattak of rigging but also made similar allegations against JUI. Zerey claimed that JUI had rigged the elections by altering the voter lists.