Delayed poll results fuel confusion amid claims by parties

ISLAMABAD: Confusion and anxiety gripped nation as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to release results, especially of several key constituencies, despite passage of nine hours after conclusion of polling.

However, it was around 2:30 am early Friday that the ECP woke up only to tell media that the delay was due to internet, and announced two results of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

The ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal said the results would be announced on being received.

He announced the results: Samiullah Khan, independent candidate from PK-76-V returned unofficially pocketing 18,888 votes and another independent candidate Fazal Hakeem Yousafzai received 25,330 votes and returned from PK-6 Swat-IV.

There were speculations that the electoral body would come up with a statement or explanation as to what exactly had gone wrong with compilation/tabulation and announcement of results of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies’ results.

The Election Commission had repeatedly claimed the election management system would work even without the internet, as it was not dependent on internet.

“To my knowledge, the Election Management System (EMS) is working fine, the delay is because of the administrative issues,” a senior ECP official maintained, when approached for his comment on the matter. But he insisted on not to be identified here.

He also explained that how the presiding officers and returning officers would furnish results and send to the Election Commission Secretariat, if there was no mobile service even. Nine hours and 32 minutes after the polling had ended, at 2:32am, the Election Commission released a brief statement, saying it had issued direction to the provincial election commissioners and returning officers to announce all the results in next 30 minutes, otherwise, strict action would be taken against them.

Earlier, the ECP issued a press release, stating that it had directed the provincial election commissioners and the returning officers to announce all results in “next half an hour”. The ECP said that election results being broadcast on TV channels had not been issued by it.

Till the filing of this report, the PPP appeared to have swept Sindh with its top leadership — Asif Ali Zardari, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari — leading with huge margins from their seats. Dr Nafeesa Shah, Sharjeel Memon, Murad Ali Shah also won from their respective constituencies.

From Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, PTI leaders including Barrister Gohar, Ali Muhammad Khan, Shehryar Afridi were also leading with decent margin.

From Punjab, PMLN and IPP leaders suffered setback from different seats and figures like Mian Javaid Latif, Malik Abrar, Jehangir Tareen were losing from their seats. By Thursday sunset, the law-enforcement agencies and nation successfully sailed through a largely peaceful election process, with a few incidents of violence reported from some parts.

The polling began at 8am and continued till 5pm. The shutdown of cellphone and internet service caused a great deal of inconvenience to the people, especially the voters.

PMLN Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif cancelled his victory speech Thursday night after observing the polling trend and went back to his Jati Umrah palatial residence. Nawaz was scheduled to deliver his ‘victory’ speech at around 12 midnight.

Party sources said the former prime minister, PMLN Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz, Ishaq Dar and other leaders gathered at the party office to watch the election results. A PMLN stalwart also told the media persons to go to their homes and the party will talk to them in the morning.

The returning officers of Lahore refused to issue official results to the media and said they had sent the results to the Election Commission, which will announce them soon.

Meanwhile, PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday had had a telephonic conversation, expressing satisfaction over the election results.

According to sources, talking to Bilawal, Zardari said the results so far were encouraging and were the result of his strong election campaign.

“I am going to Islamabad today (Friday); the future the federal government will be of Pakistan People’s Party, Inshallah,” sources quoting Zardari as telling Bilawal. Bilawal told Zardari that he was also coming to Islamabad and was determined to establish the PPP’s federal government.

PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan claimed in a video message early Friday that his party was having lead on over 150 seats of the National Assembly and would form government in the Centre.

He said that the details from the polling stations showed that PTI was enjoying lead in more than 150 NA constituencies.

He complained that they were not being given Form 47 but the workers and supporters should remain calm and stay in the RO office. He claimed they would form government in the Centre and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Organizer Omar Ayub Khan and Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Barrister Ali Zafar Thursday claimed that the PTI was emerging as the lead party both in the centre and provinces and would form its governments conveniently. The poll victory, they claimed, would ensure the release of their beloved leader from unlawful incarceration and he would again become the prime minister. They thanked the people on behalf of Imran Khan for their massive turnout despite every possible method employed to undermine their will.

In a joint statement, they said despite use of the worst state interference in the electoral process and pre-poll rigging, the PTI founding chairman showed Pakistan a new path by expressing his unwavering faith in the constitution, law and democracy. Both the leaders expressed serious concern as polling process in several constituencies across the country, especially in Karachi, was delayed due to constant obstructions.

However, they lauded that the people had shown their full confidence in Imran Khan and his true agenda of ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ through their power of votes despite the worst pre-election rigging attempts and creating numerous other hurdles.

Omar and Ali Zafar said that the preliminary results were very encouraging, which clearly showed that PTI was taking a convincing lead across the country.

However, they said that after clear and visible chances of victory of Imran Khan’s candidates in the preliminary results, the process of results slowed down alarmingly, besides reports of closure of screens at the offices of returning officers.

They warned that an attempt to steal the people’s mandate through a closed-room conspiracy would have very negative and fatal consequences.

They pointed out that a fugitive, who was brought back to the country under the London plan through the state patronage, was facing a clear defeat in both the constituencies like his party in the much-needed general elections.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Thursday claimed that it was leading in the race for 18 out of 22 National Assembly seats in Karachi.

Addressing a press conference at the MQM-P headquarters, party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui thanked Karachiites for casting votes in favour of its candidates despite all odds. He said the MQM-P would hold a celebration on Friday (today), when the complete results would be out.

MQM-P senior deputy convener and former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal hoped that all national and provincial assembly seats in Karachi and Hyderabad would belong to the party.

He said good news was coming out of the rest of Sindh province that people had reposed their confidence in the party. In Karachi, elections could not be held at all at several polling stations in different constituencies due to irregularities and various other reasons. In NA-236, according to locals, no votes could be cast Askari-IV polling station.

People in significant numbers waited for hours for the voting process to start, but to no avail. The polling staff reportedly faced violence at the hands of a political party’s supporters, which kept the polling process suspended there.

Voting also could not be held at polling stations numbers 804 and 805 in Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s NA-236 and PS-99 constituencies.

Locals resorted to protest demonstrations against the polling stations not operating.

In District West’s constituencies NA-246 and PS 120 and 121, there was no polling at three polling stations. These polling stations had been set up at Shaheen Grammar School in Orangi Town, Pak Fauj Grammar School, and Government Anjuman Mohammadia School in Block-L of Sector 11 of Orangi Town.

Concerned residents said polling could not be held at many polling stations in District West due to a lack of polling staff and material.

Polling in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad by and large remained smooth and peaceful in spite of small skirmishes, some firing incidents and internet shutdown.

Female voters particularly came out to poll vote. Male and female voters queued up in front of the polling stations all the day long. The overall turnout was over 50 percent. It remained very high at some polling stations in the twin cities.

The public strongly protested the internet shutdown creating a difficult situation for the voters and supporters.

In NA-57, Rawalpindi, thousands of voters were seen lined up outsides the polling stations even after the polling time had ended.

A large number of voters protested and demanded extension in the polling time.

Farhan Ali, Presiding Officer NA-56, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, told this reporter that a large number of voters who had queued up outside the polling station requested extension in the polling time but it could not be allowed as per the ECP directions.

As per reports, voting at some of the polling stations started a bit late.

The polling started at 8am but remained very slow till 12:00pm in almost all areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, as people feared disruptive activities.

However, it gathered momentum after 1:00pm. Female voters particularly came out in large numbers to cast their votes. Their turnout was high compared with the previous elections.

The roads remained deserted throughout the day, while the public transport stayed off the road.

Wrong entries of names/CNIC numbers deprived a good number of electorate to poll their vote. Many people quarreled with the election officials as they were disallowed to poll their vote for one reason or other.

A strange situation developed at some polling stations where the voters did not find their names in the electoral rolls.

The contesting candidates of different political parties polled their votes amid a heavy security cover.

Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, nephew of Sheikh Rasheed and candidate for NA-55-56, cast his vote at Ziaul Islam High School, Raja Bazaar.

The district election commissioner (DEC) and commissioner Rawalpindi Division visited some polling stations to observe the polling pace and election arrangements.

Some voters complained of absence of drinking water and toilets at the polling stations.

Strict security arrangements were made for the elections to meet any untoward incident.

Heavy contingents of army, Rangers and police were deployed, while the Quick Response Force (QRF) was on the standby to meet any emergency situation.

The joyous workers of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Pakistan People’s Party and other political parties came out in streets soon after the polling ended and set off fire-crackers.

Big rallies of cars and motorcycles by the PML-N and PPP supporters were seen on the roads and streets of Rawalpindi. Police and other law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the roads leading to Lal Haveli.

On the other hand, the candidates of different political parties served delicious food to their supporters.

Apart from a couple of terrorist attacks reported in Dera Ismail Khan Division, polling remained largely peaceful in the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where people voted amid strict security.

Suspension of internet and cellular phone service inconvenienced millions of people throughout the day. The polling was smooth in most of the districts.

“Apart from Dera Ismail Khan, polling was held peacefully all over the province despite numerous challenges that had made the current elections more difficult than the past ones,” Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told The News.

The election was held on Thursday for 45 general seats of the National Assembly and 115 general seats of the provincial assembly in the province. The turnout remained low at many polling stations.

Extraordinary security arrangements were made across the country.

The cops assisted by the troops from army and Frontier Constabulary remained alert at the polling stations and in other parts of the respective districts.

Over 70 percent of 15,696 polling stations in KP were declared sensitive and most sensitive due to the law and order challenges and in the wake of some recent attacks. Senior police and civilian officers visited different polling stations in Peshawar to check the security situation as well as to ensure the smooth polling process. Roads and trade centers in the provincial capital mostly remain deserted as people were busy polling votes and supporting the candidates.

The spokesman for the Election Commission of Pakistan after a statement by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, an independent candidate from Buner, said 4604 polling staff had been deployed at 397 polling stations of the district.

Besides, 3029 policemen and 32 personnel of the Quick Response Force were deployed for security.

“About reports of stopping women from polling in Swabi, the returning officer concerned visited NA-20 where elders told the officials that nobody stopped females from voting,” said the spokesman.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded restoration of cellular and internet services across the country.

“The ongoing disruption of services has occurred despite the Sindh High Court’s direction to the caretaker government to ensure uninterrupted internet services on the polling day. With the PTA claiming it has received no instructions from the government to block internet services, there is a worrying lack of transparency about where, when and for how long the disruption will continue, thereby affecting voters’ right to information and potentially the transmission of results. Those who gave this order must be identified and held responsible,” stated the HRCP.

As many as 713 candidates were in the running for National Assembly and 1814 for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

A number of women were among the front runners for few national and provincial assembly seats, giving a tough time to male rivals throughout electioneering in constituencies and on social media.

As many as 15696 polling stations were set up across the province out of 4178 were declared most sensitive, while 5925 polling stations were declared sensitive.

There are over 20.19 million voters in KP out of which over 11.94 million are males and over 9.98 million females.

According to senior officials, 11 security personnel were deployed at the most sensitive polling stations in the southern belt and merged districts of the province as per the security plan.

In other parts of KP, seven security personnel were deployed at every most sensitive polling station. Besides, in southern and merged districts, seven security personnel were deployed at each of the sensitive polling stations and four security personnel at each of the normal polling stations. In Jhang, the turnout at the male and female polling stations remained slow in the morning hours but after a few hours, the voters started visiting the polling stations.