‘Khajoor bribe’ for votes lands UK Pakistani politician in big trouble

LONDON: An interesting case has come before a UK court involving bribery to voters through Khajoor (dates) and allegations of Pakistan-style campaigning using corrupt practices.

Birmingham’s ex-Lord Mayor Muhammad Afzal has applied at the High Court to stop his own legal bid to overturn a Birmingham local council election result involving dates (khajoors) after video footage emerged showing Muhammad Afzal campaigning at the doorsteps with a fellow offering Khajoors to Muslim voters in return for votes for the Labour Party.

Muhammad Afzal, the former Birmingham City councillor, had petitioned the High Court to dismiss and overturn the result of last May’s poll in local Aston area. Afzal, standing for Labour, had lost the contest to Liberal Democrats but claimed he was the victim of false claims that he tried to sway voters with packets of Khajoor.

Afzal said his Liberal Democrats rivals Ayoub Khan and Mumtaz Hussain had falsely claimed that packs of dates (Khajoors) stamped “Labour” were handed out in his name. He said in his claim that Khan and Hussain had lied about the dates. Both Khan and Hussain had won seats in Aston. Muhammad Afzal, 78, applied to the election court to say the result should be scrapped over the Khajoor-bribery “slurs” as he claimed there was no truth in the allegations that he offered Khajoors to voters.

In a dramatic turn of event at the court, lawyers acting for Khan and Hussain presented doorbell footage, obtained from doorbell cameras, showing that Afzal and his colleagues had actually given Khajoor to voters. The former Lord Mayor then applied to end his action after viewing doorbell footage of him on the campaign trail. It showed him with supporters approaching front doors and appearing to hand over packets of the dried fruit.

In one footage, Afzal can be seen with two Pakistani men wearing Shalwar Kameez pressing the bell of a door. He then introduces himself as a Labour candidate asking for votes. The second then approaches the voter carrying Khajoor in a shopping bag, giving him a packet of Khajoor and asking him to vote for Labour.

The second footage shows the same man speaking to a female voter in Urdu and Mirpuri asking her to vote for Afzal while Afzal stands next to him holding leaflets. “Vote Labour number one. Razaman Mubarak and this is for you,” he says, handing out a packet of Khajoor.

Following the emergence of two videos, Afzal’s barrister told High Court Judge Richard Foster it would be “impracticable” to continue with the petition to overturn the vote.

Afzal’s lawyer wants to withdraw the petition and end the case but the lawyers for Khan and Hussain are determined to go ahead with the case and have asked the court for a finding.

David Martin-Sperry, representing Khan, a criminal barrister himself, said: “Here we have, on video, clear evidence not of why it is impracticable for Mr Afzal to pursue his petition, but why in doing that, it is far from impracticable, it is dishonest.” He added: “The court is looking at a situation where someone is caught with his fingers in the till -- here the fingers are so far in the till the whole arm is in the till.”

Barrister Sham Uddin, representing Mumtaz Hussain, asked the judge to deny the request to withdraw the petition and proceed to trial as he could “ultimately make a finding of corrupt or illegal practice” and a criminal finding. He said: “This case is important to show that you cannot bribe voters directly or indirectly.”

In the original petition application, posted last June, Afzal had stated that claims made by his opponents Mr Khan and Ms Hussain were “false”.

The petition also said the social media posts and leaflets “included false allegations that (Afzal) was engaging in unlawful conduct by bribing and/or treating, ‘campaigning corruptly as if in Pakistan’, and had been giving dates within the Aston Ward to induce votes.”

The petition had said: “Barrister Ayoub Khan and Mumtaz Hussain said ‘Ramadan’ is a blessing that Muslims practice every year. It is a real shame and insulting that Labour chose to treat selected Muslim voters in the Aston Ward ONLY this year. Labour have never done this during previous Ramadans. Election Law is clear that any form of ‘treating or bribery’ is a criminal offence and those that are responsible may be prosecuted”.”

The petition had also quoted: “They ought to know better that this is classed as bribery and treating under the representation of the peoples act. This is not Pakistan where you can buy votes and I’m sure that the people of Aston will see this illegal activity offering as an insult.”

The judge will decide on Wednesday whether to proceed with the trial or not.