GDA demands handing over of dispatch of postal ballots to army

The Grand Democratic Alliance has demanded that all the work related to the dispatch and transportation of postal ballots in Sindh should be done by the army to preserve the impartiality of the entire election process.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, GDA leader Sardar Abdul Rahim claimed that the sanctity of the postal ballots being dispatched to different electoral constituencies in Sindh was in grave danger because the staffers of different provincial government departments who were sympathetic towards Pakistan Peoples Party had planned to rig the elections on a large scale.

Alleged rigging

According to the GDA leader, their apprehensions regarding the sanctity of postal ballots in the province had become true in view of the two recent incidents in Shahdadpur Taluka of Sanghar District and in Sehwan Sharif.

Rahim alleged that in Shahdadpur, a lady health supervisor performing polling duty had confiscated some 800 postal ballots and tried to stamp them in favour of the PPP candidate contesting from the area.

He further claimed that in Sehwan, the alleged rigging incident occurred in the PS-80 constituency from where former Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah was contesting. Rahim said six staffers were arrested from Sehwan who had been illegally stamping the postal ballots in the area education office. Those who were arrested included a close relative of PPP’s candidate from NA-233 Sikandar Rahupoto.

The GDA leader said that there was no difference between the machinery of the present caretaker provincial set-up and that of the previous PPP-led Sindh government. He alleged government machinery was being used to do rigging in the election process in order to secure favourable election results for the party.

Claiming that there was a conspiracy under way to rig the elections through postal ballots, Rahim said the government and Election Commission had no control over the dispatch and handling of postal ballots, and demanded that the work related to dispatch of postal ballots in Sindh be handed over to the army.

This, he said, was a continuation of similar earlier demands by the concerned political parties that the army be deployed inside and outside the polling stations on the polling day. Such demands were being made as the concerned political parties had complete confidence in the army as troops should perform security duties related to the polls, he said.

CM takes notice

Meanwhile, Caretaker Chief Minister Fazalur Rehman has taken notice of the incident of undue opening of postal ballots in the constituency PS-80 in Sehwan.

According to a spokesperson for the CM, the area’s SSP had arrested six people after the incident and an investigation has been launched, while a preliminary report has also been submitted to the CM.

He said the CM has directed the area’s deputy commissioner and SSP to investigate the incident and submit a complete report byy Monday (today).