ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) filed Wednesday a petition in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), claiming the Punjab government was working behind the scenes to swing the by-elections this week in favour of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The commission has announced the holding on July 17 of polls in 20 Punjab Assembly constituencies that fell vacant after it de-seated 25 dissident lawmakers — including five nominated on reserved seats — from PTI in May for crossing the floor and voting for PML-N vice president Hamza Shehbaz during the election for the chief minister.
The petition, filed by the PTI leaders including Omar Ayub Khan, Riaz Fatyana and Iftikhar Durrani, nominated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as a respondent.
The party has also submitted to the commission what it called evidence of pre-poll rigging against it.
“Section 39(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, clearly states that revisions, transfers, addition, or deletion of voter lists are not permitted in an electoral area that has been called for an election,” the petition observed.
“…it is the election commission’s foremost duty to conduct free, fair, and impartial elections, yet the voter list has been altered and the voters have been reshuffled, which is in complete violation of the election Commission Act 2017,” it said.
One of the most “egregious” examples, according to the petition, was the issuance of voter lists of PP-140 (Sheikhupura-VI), which were issued after the announcement of the election schedule — in “violation of the law”.
Even after the election date was announced, various developmental schemes were announced in several constituencies in a clear violation of Section 181 of the Elections Act, 2017, it observed, adding that several petitions have already been moved in this regard.
The way things are unfolding in Punjab, there’s no way a free and fair election can be held, the petition asserted.
The vote on Sunday is expected to be a two-way race between the PTI party, whose chairperson Imran Khan has for months now had tense relations with the establishment, and the PML-N, the party now headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Earlier, Khan warned powers that be that by-elections should be held in a free and fair manner, a demand he said was the first test of the establishment to prove its claim of neutrality.
“They could only win elections through rigging and fear,” he declared.
Khan also asked the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to tell him the number of times he visited the residence of Shehbaz and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz who is spearheading the party’s election campaign.
