NA-125

An election tribunal on Monday nullified the result of the May 2013 elections in NA-125 and PP-155 in Lahore. The constituency had become a battleground between PML-N stalwart Saad Rafique and the PTI’s Hamid Khan. The notification pointed to a number of violations of the election code of conduct, including the fact that some of the voting bags had been cut with a sharp object and that each voter had voted an average of six times. PTI chief Imran Khan has followed the announcement by predicting new general elections in 2015. Khan also called Khwaja Saad Rafique a stranger in parliament, and predicted that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would also become a stranger in parliament very soon. The PTI chief, who has the ability to get hyper-excited at such moments, should refrain from repeating the mantra of new elections this year. The PTI’s politics over the last two years has treaded a dangerous line between strengthening democracy in Pakistan and completely derailing it. Now that the PML-N is itself, at least in principle, on board with the process of investigating the issue of election rigging, the process must be allowed to complete itself.
While the election tribunal decision gives credibility to the PTI’s rigging claims, we are left with some questions to ponder. Should the decision be read as a smoking gun? Does the decision prove that systematic rigging took place across the country? The tribunal ruling and the lack of evidence proving such an elaborate conspiracy should mean that the PTI high-command needs to calm down and let the judicial commission do its work. The PTI leadership claims that they were in the right do not reflect the much more sombre realities revealed by the recent local bodies elections in the same constituency – where the PML-N again emerged triumphant. Moreover, the claim that each voter voted six times could be pinned down to either systematic rigging or systematic mismanagement of the election by Returning Officers (ROs). Saad Rafique has said that he is being victimised for the failures of ROs. This decision by the election tribunal has vindicated the call for the formation of a judicial commission to probe electoral rigging. While the PML-N has the right to contest the election tribunal ruling, it might be more prudent for Rafique to accept the decision and prepare for a by-election that most observers predict he will easily win. As far as the larger process of examining the 2013 general elections is concerned, it is good to see the Election Commission of Pakistan take a brave step in calling for a reelection after serious irregularities have been pointed out. All parties would be well advised to focus on the upcoming by-election and aid the working of the judicial commission.