Pakistan Pakistan Election 2024 News & Updates

Saiyan0321 · Dec 27, 2023

Pakistan's General Elections are to be held on 8th February 2024 and this Sticky Thread is for all news and updates related to the upcoming elections.

These are the elections for the 16th National Assembly. Most of Pakistan's elections have been controversial or have witnessed excessive pre-election rigging aka suitable adjustments, exorbitant usage of funds and resources not present with other political parties, deals with candidates to garner support votes to win constituencies, threats and intimidation for ineffective election campaigns along with other methods. Even if we ignore elections done under dictators which have no cause to be evaluated, elections under democratic governments such as the elections of the 90s or the post 2008 elections, no single election could be constituted as absolutely fair and this one promises to be no different. With the establishment perfecting the art of uneven playing grounds and uniting opposition against parties, these elections will also raise a question mark especially the recent general elections we have witnessed in Pakistan. It seems post 2014, we have witnessed the return of the 90s politics and the elections that came with it.

Saiyan0321 · Dec 27, 2023

So as we know, there have been many events before we stand on this date and Pakistan has went from one Constitutional Crisis to the next and with the incarcerations of Imran, it is clear that in this election, the reverse is to be witnessed in contrast to the subsequent election, as the playing field is now uneven against PTI.

Barrister Gohar Khan elected new PTI Chairman

ISLAMABAD- The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as its new party chairman, nominated by former Prime Minister Imran Khan to vie for the top position.

Niazullah Niazi, PTI’s Chief Election Commissioner, disclosed that Barrister Gohar was elected unopposed during the intra-party elections held today.
Umar Ayub Khan secured the position of PTI’s central general secretary, while Ali Amin Gandapur and Dr Yasmin Rashid were chosen as the party’s provincial presidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, respectively.

The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) directives prompted these developments, leading to the intra-party polls. The central polling center, located near the Motorway Toll Plaza in Peshawar’s Rano Garhi, witnessed the arrival of Ali Zaman, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Presiding Officer.

Zaman, discussing the process, mentioned that more than 20 million registered voters were eligible to cast their votes either through an online app or a ballot paper at the Peshawar election center. He had earlier stated that all candidates were expected to be elected unopposed unless objections were raised.

The elections bear significance in Pakistan’s current political climate as Imran Khan, PTI’s Chairman, decided to temporarily hand over the chairmanship to Barrister Gohar Ali Khan until Khan’s release from jail.

Barrister Gohar Khan elected new PTI Chairman - Pakistan Observer

ISLAMABAD- The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as its new party chairman, nominated by former Prime Minister…

pakobserver.net

Furthermore

RO accepts Nawaz's nomination papers for NA-130 Lahore

Nawaz to face PTI's Dr Yasmin Rashid in NA-130 Lahore

LAHORE:
The returning officer of NA-130 Lahore accepted the nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday.

The RO, Asghar Joya, completed the scrutiny of the papers, allowing the PML-N chief to contest from the constituency in the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8.

No objections were against Nawaz's nomination papers.

Speaking to the media, PML-N leader Bilal Yasin said Nawaz will emerge victorious from NA-130 on February 8 and will "become prime minister of Pakistan for the fourth time".

“All legal obligations are fulfilled in Nawaz Sharif’s case,” lawyer Amjad Parvez informed the media and added that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had established a portal for the scrutiny of nomination papers.

“Nawaz has fulfilled all the requirements available on the election commission’s portal," Parvez said and added the RO was satisfied with all requirements.

The former premier will now contest against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Dr Yasmin Rashid and 22 other candidates for NA-130.

Legal conundrum

The former premier was disqualified in the Panama Papers case in July 2017 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC).

The judges of the apex court had ruled that Nawaz had been dishonest to the parliament and the courts in not disclosing his employment in a Dubai-based company in his 2013 nomination papers, and thus, could not be deemed fit for his office.

Later, an accountability court awarded him 10 years imprisonment in the Avenfield apartments and seven years in Al-Azizia references. However, he has been acquitted in both cases by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

However, before the general elections in 2024, the SC will resolve the contradiction between the judicial decision and the parliamentary legislation on whether disqualification under Article 62 of the Constitution means for life or five years.

RO accepts Nawaz's nomination papers for NA-130 Lahore | The Express Tribune

Nawaz to face PTI's Dr Yasmin Rashid in NA-130 Lahore

tribune.com.pk

So as the article mentioned after all the acquittals, Nawaz only has one hurdle and it seems that will go away. So the constitution makes no mention of any mention but simply mentions that an individual could be disqualified for these reasons. Chief Justice Nisar, in his Panama Paper Judgment, filled the absence within the Constitution using liberal interpretation of legislative will and this divided the legal fraternity as many stated that it was akin to courts making laws and punishments and if there was such a limitation then it could only be interpreted within the constitutional framework absent any limits aka simply removed from office or it should have been sent to the parliament for a punishment to be decided. Since this was in 2017 and by then the establishment was critically against PMLN, lifetime disqualification was the only option. This created a legal issue because now we have one punishment for disqualification so does that mean all disqualifications are to be penalized in such a manner. The High Courts of Pakistan have expressed this dissatisfaction in their judgment and even recently saqib nisar has also felt some heat. Now five years later, the parliament passed an amendment to the Election Act 2017 that disqualification can only be for 5 years but then we have a court judgment that makes disqualification for lifetime so the Supreme Court has taken it upon itself that they will rectify this divergence. It would be quite surprising if the Supreme Court declares the 5 year legislative punishment as void however if the SC declare their lifetime disqualification as wrong, it again puts the Supreme Court in an awkward position of favouring establishment designs and that Saqib Nisar had acted in bad faith. I think they will try to find the middle road which can go two ways for nawaz.
first that they will declare the lifetime declaration as the legal law till parliament passed their legislative punishment thus lifetime is no longer applicable on Nawaz and it has retrospective impact.
Second way is for them to declare the above but state that there is retrospective effect and nawaz is still disqualified. The chance of this happening is slim. All in all, there seems to be a good chance that Nawaz will go for fourth term

Saiyan0321 · Dec 27, 2023

Peshawar High Court suspends ECP order stripping PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol

he Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) declaration of the PTI’s intra-party polls as unconstitutional and the revocation of the party’s ‘bat’ election symbol.

Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel announced the verdict shortly after reserving his order on a PTI petition against the ECP decision.

The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said that general elections were scheduled for February 8 and the last date for allotment of election symbols was January 13.

It directed that notices be issued to all respondents for Jan 9 and suspended the ECP’s December 22 order. The court also ordered the ECP to publish the PTI’s certificate on the commission’s website and restore the party’s election symbol “keeping in view the urgency, that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning hearby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice”.

The submission of the party’s plea comes after the electoral watchdog last week voided, for the second time in under a month, the PTI’s internal elections in which Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was elected as the party’s new chairman.

The ECP had issued a verdict following a first-of-its-kind microscopic examination of the inner workings of a political party and declared the party ineligible to obtain an election symbol to contest the upcoming general elections.

“It is held that PTI has not complied with our directions rendered therein order dated 23rd November 2023 and failed to hold intra-party election in accordance with PTI prevailing Constitution, 2019 and Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017,” the ECP had said in its 11-page order.

The party had termed the decision part of the “famous London Plan” and a “disgusting and shameful attempt to stop PTI from [participating in the] election”.

It had also claimed that the party would still win the general elections, maintaining that it would appeal the decision at every forum. It asserted that its candidates would indeed contest the polls with the ‘bat’ symbol, come what may.

Election symbol is the life of any party: Ali Zafar

Talking to the media after the PHC verdict, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar said the election symbol was the “life” of any party and a basic constitutional right of the organisation and its workers, supporters and voters.

“Today the high court has upheld that basic right and declared that the ‘bat’ symbol belongs to the PTI and restored it.”
Zafar said the ECP had given its verdict in the case as if it was an “opponent” of the PTI instead of a just arbitrator and also questioned why the lawyers from parties or the government were present in today’s hearing. “It seemed that they were against the PTI together with the ECP,” he said.

Zafar said that the ECP should remain “independent and free”.

Meanwhile, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the PHC had undermined and eliminated the “conspiracy against the PTI, its symbol and its supporters” with its order. He added that the high court had restored the trust of the party and the nation in the judiciary.

“It seemed as if the ECP were against us, it did not feel as if they were fair,” PTI lawyer Ali Zafar said while speaking to the media outside the PHC alongside Gohar Khan, adding that a symbol is a fundamental right.

“The way lawyers from different parties were arguing in courts today, it seemed as if they were collaborating against PTI. One should not get this perspective, they should stay independent” he said.

Gohar said there was a “great need” for the suspension order since nomination papers for the general elections have been filed and the scrutiny process is under way.

He said the PTI had sent its priority list and all the provinces accepted it other than Punjab, adding that the final list issued included all political parties other than the PTI.

The PTI chairman said the party would request the ECP to ensure elections were free, fair and transparent, adding that the party had always expressed confidence in the watchdog.

“Our trust was hurt, justice wasn’t done with us but we were discriminated against.”

Peshawar High Court suspends ECP order stripping PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol

Issues notices to the electoral watchdog and other respondents in the case; PTI welcomes verdict, says PHC has restored trust in judiciary.

www.dawn.com

so the symbol issue is one of the incidents where level playing field is being called into question. ECP has heavily cracked down on PTI and there is no doubt that Sikander Sultan Raja is harbouring grudges from the time when PTI was pressing down on the institution. With the breathing space provided after 9th May and the backing from the Establishment, ECP has made the lives of PTI hell. ECP cracked down on the Intra-Party Elections and took the microscope on the party. Something it had never done before nor did it to anybody else. It was a clear case of malicious intentions. They called to question the election. Now when PTI was in its infancy, it created one of the best laid down procedures for Intra-Party elections and when it held them in 2012, it was a sign of democratic evolution of the country since at that time, other parties were just going through motions for the leaders and electables to be elected. By 2016, PTI threw away its democratic aspirations and became an establishment party and started to follow the same procedure as other political parties did. Justice Wajihuddin is a great study and a sad case in this regard. Fast forward to now, they are no longer interested in the method prescribed and are following regular political party procedures. Some founding members of PTI complained and ECP took this opportunity to crack down on them. They dont care about anybody else thus the malicious prosecution. ECP declared the elections flawed and told them to reconduct them in 20 days. This was done in December 2nd and ECP did the procedure and reserved its verdict. Meanwhile PTI went to Peshawar High Court which told ECP to announce their verdict which they had reserved and to do that in line with law. The Court rejected the pleas of Gohar to decide the matter themselves and declare the proceeding as null and void since the complainants were no longer part of PTI. Court asked them if they were no longer part of PTI then why wasnt this fact or the evidence alongside it attached to the plaint. Gohar had no answer for it. He then stated that if ECP is empowered to decide the matter then this matter needs to be decided by ECP before coming to us and to respect the hierarchy of courts.

The thing is whether PTI followed its procedures or not is no longer the question when no other party is doing the same and only PTI is being brought under the microscope. If it was done across the board then there would have been some bonafide to the method but it was clearly a target that parties have faced historically. PPP for example used to contest elections on the electoral symbol sword but that got taken from them so they made arrow their symbol. Infact their original symbol was "Chiragh" a mud based cup filled with oil and flammable rope used to light the way in olden times in the subcontinent. When PTI graph was rising, they fought tooth to nail to get the Jamat e Islami symbol of "Tarazo" "Weight machine" often analogized with the weight of justice. When this was rejected, they got bat and made it their symbol.

So what is the impact of losing the symbol. PTI contestants cant contest elections through party tickets and thus they will have to contest elections as independent candidates which means that they could be poached and cant form a party on their own. Basically destroys the party. PTI took the case to PHC which obviously declared the order as unjust.

Saiyan0321 · Dec 27, 2023

Lahore gears up for crowded election as 470 candidates vie for 14 NA seats

Big names like Shehbaz, Nawaz, Maryam, Imran Khan throw their hats in the ring for Punjab capital

Lahore is gearing up for a fierce electoral battle as a staggering 470 candidates have submitted their nomination papers for the city's 14 National Assembly seats for the upcoming general elections.

This intense competition promises a vibrant and potentially unpredictable race for public office.

The provincial assembly elections are also generating immense interest, with a whopping 1,408 nomination papers filed for the 30 available seats. This signifies a diverse field of candidates vying for the opportunity to serve their constituencies.

Among the prominent figures who have thrown their hats in the ring are:

NA-117: Around 38 candidates, including Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party President Abdul Aleem Khan, have submitted their documents for this constituency.
NA-118: PML-N leader and son of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, is among the 19 candidates contesting from NA-118.
NA-119: PML-N leader and daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, is battling it out against 34 candidates, including Aleem Khan, from this constituency.
NA-120: Around 38 nomination papers have been submitted for this constituency, including PML-N's Maryam Nawaz, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq.
NA-122: Former PTI chairman Imran Khan will be up against 36 candidates from here.
NA-123: PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PTI leader Afzal Pahat are among the 20 contestants for this seat.
NA-127: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N's Shaista Pervaiz Malik are among the 36 candidates for this constituency.
NA-130: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former PTI minister Dr Yasmin Rashid are among the 28 candidates who will fight it out for this seat.

Meanwhile, 23 nomination papers have been submitted for NA-124, 27 for NA-125, 22 for NA-126, 33 for NA-128 and 28 for NA-129 constituencies.

These are just a few of the major contenders, and the full list of candidates includes individuals from various political parties, independent hopefuls, and fresh faces seeking to enter the political arena. With such a large and diverse field, predicting the outcome of the elections is no easy feat.

https://www.samaa.tv/208736771-lahore-gears-up-for-crowded-election-as-470-candidates-vie-for-14-na-seats

Expect alot of money to be spent here.

Afif · Dec 27, 2023

How free and fair this election is expected to be?

Saiyan0321 · Dec 27, 2023

Afif said:
How free and fair this election is expected to be?

about as free and fair as our previous elections save for the 1970 one and the 2013 one to an extent

Saiyan0321 · Jan 11, 2024

PTI wins back ‘bat’ as PHC declares ECP order ‘illegal’

In a major relief ahead of the February 8 general elections, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday declared “illegal” the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to revoke the PTI’s ‘bat’ electoral symbol and reject its intra-party polls.

In the short order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the PHC said that the ECP order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”.

The court directed the ECP to publish the certificate filed by the PTI following internal polls on its website. “It is further held and declared that the PTI is entitled to the election symbol strictly in terms of Sections 215 and 217 read with any other enabling provision of the Election Act, 2017 and Election Rules, 2017,” it said.

The verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day, was announced by a two-member bench comprising Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali on a petition jointly filed by PTI Chairman Gohar Khan and six other leaders requesting the court to declare the ECP order as illegal and without jurisdiction.
On December 22, the election commission had decided against letting PTI retain its electoral symbol for the general election, saying that it had failed to hold intra-party polls in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws.

The PTI had approached the PHC against the ECP order on Dec 26 and a single-member bench restored the electoral symbol of the party till January 9 and directed that the case be fixed before a divisional bench.

On Dec 30, the electoral watchdog had filed a review application in the PHC, arguing that the court had overstepped its jurisdiction. Days later, in a major blow for the PTI, the high court had withdrawn the stay on the ECP order, stripping the party of its symbol again.

Subsequently, the PTI moved the Supreme Court against the restoration of the ECP ruling. However, the party withdrew the appeal earlier today as the matter was already being heard by the PHC bench........

Remainder Article on the website

PTI wins back ‘bat’ as PHC declares ECP order ‘illegal’

On Dec 22, ECP had stripped PTI of its electoral symbol and rejected the party's internal polls.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Jan 11, 2024

ECP is looking to strike back however if they have any sense, they shouldnt. Its a losing battle and fundamental rights cannot be taken away based on technicalities. Pakistan has well established jurisprudence on principle of technicalities

ECP to make its move today amid ‘bat-and-forth’

• PHC overrules Election Commission order on PTI’s intra-party polls, says party entitled to its symbol
• CEC chairs post-decision huddle; will finalise strategy after briefing from law wing

ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR: After the Peshawar High Court (PHC) overruled a decision of the election watchdog which denied the PTI its electoral symbol of ‘bat’, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will hold another meeting today (Thursday) to decide whether or not to move the Supreme Court against the order of the high court, which came hardly a month before the general elections slated for Feb 8.
On Wednesday, after another round of ‘bat-and-forth’ in the PHC, the PTI was allowed by the two-member bench to retain its electoral symbol and the decision of the ECP announced on Dec 22 was set aside.
After the PHC ruling, ECP chief Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a huddle in Islamabad to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the court decision.

A source said the meeting mulled over its options, but could not reach a final decision about whether or not to approach the top court. Another meeting will be held today (Thursday), where the law wing of the ECP will brief the watchdog, after which a final decision about moving the SC will be made.

A source, however, agreed that time was quite short as returning officers are expected to allocate poll symbols to the contesting candidates on January 13.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan hailed the PHC verdict as “historic”. Speaking to the media in Rawalpindi, he said that the ‘bat’ was more than just an electoral symbol.

ECP to make its move today amid ‘bat-and-forth’

PHC overrules watchdog's order on PTI’s intra-party polls, says party entitled to its symbol; CEC chairs post-decision huddle.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 9, 2024

PTI had no symbol so they were running on independent candidates and in our history, save for the partyless elections under zia, this is the most independents in our parliaments. PTI has a very strong chance to form government if they can just form an alliance with one party and gain maajority in the national assembly. KPK is officially PTI. Punjab is divided as hell. Sindh is PPP central and the IPP party, formed by the military to weaken PTI lost big time. Like vanished

Saiyan0321 · Feb 9, 2024

However rigging claims are growing especially when the system went down, internet was shut in some areas and mobile networks were shut by the government which has raised questions. PTI would have been a force if they had the bat symbol. Truly the Supreme Court of Pakistan cast a dark shadow on the 2024 Election

Saiyan0321 · Feb 10, 2024

PML-N regains lost ground in Rawalpindi and Islamabad

SLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Amid complaints of rigging, the PML-N made a clean sweep after 16 years by grabbing all the three seats of the National Assembly in the federal capital. The party also made a similar comeback in Rawalpindi where it clinched the three National Assembly seats after 10 years.

However, candidates of other parties alleged that the results were altered to facilitate the PML-N.

According to the results announced by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PML-N candidate Anjum Aqeel Khan won NA-46 (Islamabad-I) with 81,958 votes against 44,317 votes of his competitor Amir Masood Mughal, an independent backed by the PTI. Raja Imran Ashraf of the PPP bagged 7,987 votes.

In NA-47, PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was declared victorious after scoring 102,502 votes while PTI-backed independent candidate Shoaib Shaheen got 86,396 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, an independent candidate, secured 17,916 votes.

Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, a joint candidate of the PML-N and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), won NA-48 (Islamabad-III) with 69,699 votes while Syed Mohammad Ali Bukhari stood second with 59,851 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar third with 18,572 votes.

In federal capital and garrison city, party wins all seats after 16 and 10 years, respectively

The PML-N had made a clean sweep in Islamabad in 2008 general elections when the city had only two seats in NA. In 2013, one seat each was won by PML-N and PTI.

In 2018, the PTI had won all the three seats after the addition of one more seat.

Meanwhile, four other candidates have alleged rigging and alterations in the results and two of them announced to approach courts.

Amir Masood Mughal claimed in a video message that he had signed and stamped Form-45 (results) of 294 out of the 342 polling stations according to which he was far ahead of Anjum Aqeel with over 40,000 votes. However, he alleged that on Friday morning the results were altered and he was defeated by 40,000 votes.

Another PTI-backed candidate from NA-47, Shoaib Shaheen, told Dawn that he had won but the results were changed at midnight. “I had won with a lead of 50,000 votes but later was declared defeated by more than 16,000 votes,” he said, adding his votes were given to PML-N candidate, Tariq Fazal.

Mr Shaheen said he had lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner Islamabad and the Election Commission of Pakistan but to no avail.

He claimed that he had complete results of all polling stations by 11pm on February 8 according to which he had won. “I will definitely challenge the dishonesty in the court of law,” said Mr Shaheen, who is also a senior lawyer.

Independent candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar accepted his defeat but claimed that two of his competitors - Shoaib Shaheen and Mr Ali Bukhari - had won from NA-47 and NA-48, respectively, but their results were altered.

PML-N regains lost ground in Rawalpindi and Islamabad

In federal capital and garrison city, party wins all seats after 16 and 10 years, respectively.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 10, 2024

Caretakers, ECP moves make election results controversial

ISLAMABAD: Overemphasis on security, mismanagement on part of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the eleventh-hour ‘unilateral’ decision of the caretaker government to shut down mobile phone services not only caused delay in the announcement of the election results, but also refreshed the memories of the 2018 RTS controversy, thus making the fairness of the elections doubtful for many.

In addition, some unnecessary statements issued by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in defence of the government’s action of suspending the mobile phone and internet services and about the declaration of the results within the stipulated legal timeframe as well as his directives to returning officers (ROs) to announce the results within 30 minutes compounded the perplexed political situation.

This is the inference drawn from views of various election experts and civil society representatives whose opinions were sought on the unfolding situation after unprecedented delay in the announcement of the results.

A consensus is found among all of them that the Election Management System (EMS) prepared by the ECP for the Feb 8 elections cannot be blamed for the present result fiasco as the system was never used due to non-availability of internet and, therefore, the EMS had no comparison at all with the Result Transmission System (RTS) that had been developed by National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for the transparent transmission of the results of the elections held on July 25, 2018.

“EMS was a bit more than the RTS that failed in 2018. The additional features of EMS included entry of polling station results into a consolidated spreadsheet in RO’s office. Common feature was that presiding officers (POs) were to take a snapshot of Form 45 and transmit it to the RO before 2am the next day,” said Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) president Ahmed Bilal Mehboob.

Mr Mehboob regretted that since the ECP never held a proper inquiry about alleged failure of the RTS and “hence we don’t really know what actually happened in 2018.”

“Apparently there was no technical explanation,” he said, adding that things are shrouded in greater mystery this time as none of the 859 ROs transmitted the results of a constituency by 2am either electronically or manually.

“Even if there was no internet, the Form 45 could have been submitted to the ROs manually and results compiled,” he said.

“It appeared to be a much bigger failure this time and God knows to serve what purpose?” he remarked.

When his attention was drawn towards reports that the presiding officers and other election staff were either not allowed to move out of their respective polling stations or enter the offices of the returning officers by the law enforcement personnel for many hours due to security concerns, he said if it was so, then the ECP should have come out with a response and tell the nation as to what actually happened during the vote count after polling.

Sources said when some political parties approached the ECP and criticised the decision to suspend the mobile phone service, the CEC contacted the government officials, but did not insist on restoring the service when he was told to take the responsibility if any untoward incident took place during the polling process.

Earlier in 2018, the nation had witnessed almost a similar situation when the results after daylong polling were pouring in simultaneously at the ECP, ROs offices and the state-run PTV through the newly-developed state-of-the-art RTS being the entire process suddenly stopped.

As the flow of results stopped abruptly, there was confusion everywhere with no one knowing where exactly the problem was. This was the time when the political parties, which had already been crying foul over the alleged forcible expulsion of their political agents from polling stations during vote count, began expressing their suspicion over the counting process.

The then ECP secretary, Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, appeared on TV screens well after midnight just to inform the nation that the RTS had “collapsed”. He announced that the ECP was returning to the traditional method of manually tabulating the results and, therefore, there could be an inordinate delay in the release of unofficial results.

This was what the nation saw on the screens.

Behind the scene, senior and top officials of Nadra — the creators of the RTS mobile app — were protesting with the ECP for, what they called, making a “wrong announcement” since the RTS was “fully functional” even after the controversial news conference of the ECP secretary. The Nadra officials reportedly also produced the “computer log” to the ECP secretary showing normal transmission of the results through the system. But they were simply told by the ECP officials that they had decided to stop using the RTS because it had started “malfunctioning”.

“It was in the best national interest and to avoid any further controversy” that Nadra preferred not to react over the secretary’s presser,“ sources in Nadra had said while showing no interest to pursue the matter, stating if the Nadra officials had reacted over the controversial announcement of the ECP secretary, it could have aggravated the already tense political situation and the media might have played it up as a confrontation between the two institutions.

When contacted, former ECP secretary Kunwar Dilshad termed the present situation a result of the “administrative weakness” of the caretaker government.

He said the EMS could not be blamed for the latest results fiasco, when the new system could not be used by the POs due to the suspension of internet services. And since the decision to suspend the mobile and internet service was taken by the government at the eleventh hour, perhaps without consulting the CEC, the ECP could not tell the POs well in time that they would be required to manually submit the results of their respective polling stations along with the material within the given deadline.

Caretakers, ECP moves make election results controversial

Consensus found among experts that EMS platform cannot be blamed as the system was never used due to non-availability of internet.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 10, 2024

All roads lead to coalition

• Closed-door meetings belie denials of ‘consensus’ between PML-N, PPP camps
• MQM-P delegation in Lahore to meet PML-N leaders
• Bilawal says no decision yet on power-sharing formula with Sharifs
• Insiders say office of president being dangled as a ‘political carrot’

LAHORE / KARACHI: Two of the country’s major political parties — the PML-N and PPP — are making hectic efforts to form government in the Centre, Punjab and Balochistan.

But haunted by ghosts of their previous collaboration under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), both sides are keeping their cards close to their chests, cautiously negotiating what a possible power-sharing deal would look like.

It will be a busy Sunday in Lahore and Islamabad, as PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari is expected to hold important meetings today to discuss the modalities of their proposed alliance. There is also talk of the office of president being offered as a ‘political carrot’, so to speak.

Meanwhile, an MQM-P delegation is in Lahore, on the invitation of the PML-N, to discuss their post-election strategy.

A day after the polls, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had hinted at the formation of a national unity government, along the lines of the PDM alliance, before tasking his brother — former PM Shehbaz Sharif — with reaching out to other parties to begin consultations on government-formation.

“The PML-N leadership on Saturday also discussed a proposal within its ranks to support the PPP to form the federal government and it concentrates on Punjab where it has a comfortable majority with Shehbaz Sharif and not Maryam Nawaz as the chief minister,” a PML-N insider told Dawn.

But this time around, the decision would not be rushed, as was the case when the PDM was formed following the ouster of the Imran Khan government in April 2022.

Speaking to a private TV channel, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari held initial consultations, but both would consult their parties regarding the formation of a coalition government.

To a question whether the PML-N would talk to the PTI or its PTI-backed candidates, Ms Aurangzeb said: “The PML-N has no intention to talk to PTI independents.”

Shehbaz is also being tipped as one of the favourites for the slot of premier in the proposed coalition in Islamabad.

“A lot more discussion is under way in the PML-N and PPP regarding forming a coalition. Who will be the prime minister and president, and which party will have the chief minister in Balochistan and so on so forth? All this requires quite a discussion,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif presided over a party meeting in Model Town and called for all political parties to unite for the sake of Pakistan. “We will meet the expectations of the masses. The purpose of the new government will be to provide economic relief to the people,” he said.

The meeting was informed about the PML-N’s contacts with other parties regarding forming the government in the Centre. The meeting also discussed various options in forming the governments in Islamabad and Lahore.

PPP tight-lipped

While the PML-N camp is buzzing with activity, PPP leaders are keeping their cards close to their chest.

Party leaders told Dawn on Saturday they were “surprised” to see the impression that they were “all set” to join a PML-N led coalition government in the Centre, insisting that no such decision had been reached.

So much so, they claimed, that the idea hadn’t been discussed even within the party so far.

“We haven’t talked about anything regarding the future partnership or coalition government in the Centre,” PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told Dawn.

“No such thing has happened,” he said when quizzed about media reports indicating that the two sides had reached some sort of agreement.

“We are still in the process of assessing the elections results and emerging political situation. Once the results are finalised, the central executive committee, which has already nominated me as the PM candidate, will sit again and devise the course of action,” he said.

Speaking to Geo News earlier in the day, Mr Bhutto-Zardari had said that his party was the only one with representation in all four provinces.

“The full results have not been announced yet. We are not yet aware of the decisions of the independent candidates. It is too soon to predict who will be forming the government in the Centre and the provinces. I can tell you this much, that no one can form the government in the centre, Punjab or Balochistan without the PPP’s support,” he said.

“We wish to bury the politics of hatred and division and can no longer continue the traditional manner of doing politics”, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said, adding that they wanted to reduce political instability because it was vital for economic stability. “So far, the PPP has not engaged officially with the PML-N, PTI or any other party,” he said.

He also said the party was focusing on setting up a government in the centre, Balochistan and Punjab, as it does not have any competition in Sindh. “We will all have to make a coalition government in Balochistan,” he said, adding that a consensus government would bring political stability.

Criticising Nawaz Sharif’s ‘premature’ speech from a day earlier, he said: “Nawaz Sharif made his speech in haste. He too should have waited for the finalised results as us, but it is ultimately his and his party’s prerogative.”

All roads lead to coalition

Closed-door meetings belie denials of ‘consensus’ between PML-N, PPP camps; insiders say office of president being dangled as a ‘political carrot’.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

No doubt about it that the government will be a coalition one however PTI is losing the initiative. Their policy was rigid before the election and it is rigid even now as they are more focused on filing petitions in the court of law to overturn results rather than create alliances to circumvent PMLN that immediately sent out representatives to other parties. There is very little doubt that PMLN and PPP will form a coalition government especially with Independent candidates, those of whom that werent part of PTI, joining PMLN one after the other which is again Failure of PTI team because they didnt reach those candidates to strengthen their position.

The government will be

KPK, PTI government formed through some party name since ECP stated that these independents cannot join PTI as it doesnt have an election symbol.

Baluchistan, Coalition government between PMLN, PPP and JUIF

Sindh will be absolute PPP government with MQM in opposition

Punjab will be PMLN. They will do everything in their power as they need 149 seats for majority, PTI indepedents have 112 seats whereas the other independents number around 22 with PMLN having 137 and N will be working day and night to get them in Punjab to get a majority. Since independents do swing to government forming party, i would say Punjab is definitely N.

Center will be absolute Coalition. N does not have the numbers with 75 seats where we need 133 for majority and PTI independents have 92 and PPP have 54 and since PTI is unrealistically rigid, PPP and N will form coalition.

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

Army chief backs efforts towards ‘healing’ alliances

KARACHI: As political parties make their moves to secure alliances and assurances to form governments in the Centre and Punjab after the elections, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has said the nation needs “stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation”.

In a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), which seems to endorse political efforts towards forming a coalition among various political actors, the army chief said: “Political leadership and their workers should rise above self-interests and synergise efforts in governing and serving the people, which is perhaps the only way to make democracy functional and purposeful.”

He said as the people reposed their combined trust in the Constitution, it was “incumbent upon all political parties to reciprocate the same with political maturity and unity. As we move forward from this national milestone we must reflect on where the country stands today and where our rightful place should be in the comity of nations”.

“Pakistan’s diverse polity and pluralism will be well-represented by a unified government of all democratic forces imbibed with national purpose,” he added.

“Elections and democracy are means to serve people of Pakistan and not ends in themselves. The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation which does not suit a progressive country of 250 Million people. Elections are not a zero-sum competition of winning and losing but an exercise to determine the mandate of the people.”

“Political leadership and their workers should rise above self-interests and synergise efforts in governing and serving the people which is perhaps the only way to make democracy functional and purposeful,” the army chief said.

The COAS congratulated the entire nation, caretaker government, Election Commission of Pakistan, political parties and all winning candidates on successful conduct of elections. “The free and unhindered participation by Pakistani people to exercise their right of vote demonstrated their commitment to democracy and the rule of law as enshrined in Constitution of Pakistan,” he said.

Gen Munir praised the personnel of law-enforcement agencies for creating a safe and secure environment for the electoral process, despite overwhelming odds.

Army chief backs efforts towards ‘healing’ alliances

"Political leadership and their workers should rise above self-interests and synergise efforts in governing and serving the people," COAS says.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

Courts flooded with challenges as PTI-backed hopefuls assail ‘rigging’

LAHORE/KARACHI/ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR/GUJRAT: The courts were flooded with legal challenges on Saturday as candidates challenged the provisional results in their constituencies in a bid to turn the tide.

A vast majority of those filing such challenges were PTI-backed independents, including high-profile politicians such as Parvez Elahi and his wife Qaisera, former KP finance minister Taimoor Jhagra and ex-KP speaker Mahmood Jan, Islamabad-based lawyer Shuaib Shaheen, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, as well as Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar.

In Lahore, the victories of former PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Attaullah Tarar and former defence minister Khawaja Asif were assailed in separate petitions before the high court, which allege manipulation of Form 47s.

The petitioners claim that they were successful against their opponents as per the Form 45 handed to them. However, in their absence, their victories were allegedly turned into defeats in the Form 47. The have also alleged collusion in the alteration of election results and demand that the results of Form 47 be prepared according to the Form 45s.

In PP 146 Sialkot, Omar Dar’s wife, Ruba Omar, has challenged the election results. According to Form 45, Ruba Omar had won, but she was evidently defeated in Form 47 due to collusion.

Maryam Nawaz’s victory from NA-119 has been challenged by independent candidate Shahzad Farooq. The presiding officers did not provide Form 45, and the returning officer issued the result in his absence. Shahzad Farooq claims to have won against Maryam Nawaz but was defeated due to rigging.

Atta Tarar’s victory from NA-127 has been challenged by Zahir Abbas Khokhar. Atta Tarar has lost according to Form 45 but declared himself victorious in Form 47 with evident collusion.

In Karachi, three PTI candidates moved the Sindh High Court, arguing that the election watchdog, ROs and others flouted electoral laws and rigged the entire process.

The challengers include PTI provincial chief Haleem Adil Sheikh, Arsalan Khalid and advocate Khalid Mehmood, who contested in NA-238 (East-IV), NA-248 (Central-II) and NA-231 (Malir-III), respectively.

The PTI Sindh president argued that as per the Form 45 obtained by his election agents from all polling stations, he had a clear lead of around 65,000 votes, but MQM-P’s Sadiq Iftikhar was shown as the winner from NA-238 with over 54,000 in the impugned Form 47, while the petitioner was placed on second position with over 36,800 votes.

In Islamabad, Mohammad Shuaib Shaheen — a member of Imran Khan’s legal team — and Mohammad Ali Bukhari have assailed their defeats at the hands of PML-N’s Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Independent candidate Raja Khurram Shehzad, respectively.

Both the candidates filed the petitions in the IHC, however, the registrar office raised the objection that the petitioner should approach the appropriate forum.

Subsequently, the candidates filed the application with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The commission summoned the returning officers of the constituencies for Sunday (today).

The petition stated Mr Bukhari contested from NA-48, however, the returning officer forcibly expelled his polling agents from the relevant polling stations, contravening the law.

Consequently, all counting and result preparation occurred in the absence of the petitioner and their appointed agents.

It said that despite verbal complaints from the petitioner and his polling agents, no action was taken.

The Peshawar High Court will take up petitions filed by nine PTI-backed independents, including six former lawmakers, challenging the provisional election results in their respective constituencies.

The hearing will be conducted by a two-member bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Syed Arshad Ali.

The petitioners include former provincial ministers Taimoor Saleem Khan Jhagra (PK-79) and Kamran Khan Bangash (PK-82), former deputy speaker of the KP Assembly Mahmood Jan (PK-72), former MNAs Sajid Nawaz Khan (NA-28) and Hamidul Haq (PK-80), former MPA Arbab Jehandad Khan (PK-74), former Peshawar district nazim Mohammad Asim (PK-78) and lawyers Ali Zaman (PK-73) and Malik Shahab (PK-75).

Meanwhile, in Gujrat, the ECP has ordered the Gujrat district returning officer and returning officers of NA-64 and PP-32 (Gujrat and Kunjah) to withhold notifications of returned candidates and conduct final consolidation of the result in the presence of petitioners Qaisara Elahi and Chaudhary Parvez Elahi or their representative.

These orders was issued by three members of the ECP in Islamabad on Saturday after hearing the petitions filed by Qaisara Elahi and her spouse, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the PTI candidates from NA-64 and PP-32 respectively.

Qaisara Elahi alleged in her petition that she had been winning the NA-64 seat with a margin of at least 103,262 votes from 262 out of total 359 polling stations but as per the Form 47 issued by the returning officer, NA 64, she secured 80,946 votes while her opponent candidate Chaudhary Salik Hussain has got 105,205 votes due to which she had filed a petition to stop the RO from issuing the final result without consolidation.

The petitioner Parvez Elahi also framed the same issues against the provisional result announced by the concerned RO in PP-32 (Kunjah) as Salik Hussain was earlier declared winner by the RO in the initially issued unofficial results.

The ECP has fixed February 15 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Courts flooded with challenges as PTI-backed hopefuls assail ‘rigging’

Petitioners claim they were successful against their opponents as Form 45 but their victories were turned into defeats in Form 47.

www.dawn.com

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

Independents have three days to secure some sort of political stand and this is crucial for PTI because if in 3 days they dont solve this issue then they wont get special seats. So Pakistan has a system where we have elections through ballot and after those election there are special unelected seats provided for representation such as women or minorities and these seats are proportional to the number of seats a party has won like for example if they have won 4 general election seat then they will get 1 women special seat so your tally has increased in the parliament. This arrangement is solely for political parties so independents dont get special seats because you need to give special seat list before election and independents are separate.

Now independents have been told that they cant join PTI and there is an issue with joining an allied party like MWM because that said party didnt provide special seat list and there is a chance that you cant submit a new list. You can submit more names if you won more but you cant submit new list atleast that is the interpretation that is forwarded. So PTI needs to do something in 3 days otherwise they can kiss those special seats good bye and their position in center would be weakened even more and frankly KPK assembly would be worse off because it wont have minority or women representation because PTI won like 80%+ seats over there.

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

Reports in meetings are coming that PPP is asking for some tough concessions like Prime Minister slot which i dont think will happen because PM will be nawaz but i think negotiations will go down to important cabinet positions like interior ministry, foreign ministry, law ministry or finance ministry. I think PPP wants finance ministry because their manisfesto really focused on Public socialist reforms and against privatization but N m,anifesto spoke of privatization especially in light of IMF.

Saiyan0321 · Feb 11, 2024

For Sindh result