ECP told not to notify winners of three constituencies

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday restrained the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from notifying the names of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders as returned candidates in three of Karachi’s constituencies until August 10.

The order came on the petitions of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) NA-237 (Malir-II) candidate Abdul Hakeem Baloch, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) NA-249 (West-II) candidate Shehbaz Sharif and the party’s PS-116 (West-V) candidate Saleheen Tanoli, who seek recounting of the ballots cast in the three constituencies.

The counsel for PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said his client had contested last month’s general election for the National Assembly constituency NA-249 and secured 34,626 votes while the PTI’s candidate Faisal Vawda received 35,349 votes.

Sharif’s representative told the high court that there is a difference of only 723 votes between his client and the PTI’s candidate, while the number of the rejected votes in the constituency stands at 2,684.

He said the petitioner had submitted an application for a vote recount to the relevant returning officer, but the plea was rejected despite the fact that it is the RO’s responsibility to conduct the recount in accordance with Section 95 (Consolidation of results) of the Elections Act.

He added that the petitioner had also approached the ECP for a recount, but he was informed that the process of consolidation had been completed and that he might approach the appropriate forum through an election petition.

Sharif’s counsel referred to the earlier judgements of the SHC and the Lahore High Court in identical cases in which vote recounts were ordered after issuing notices to the all the contesting candidates.

Saleheen Tanoli, the PML-N’s candidate for the provincial assembly constituency PS-116, said in his petition that he had secured 9,711 votes while the PTI’s candidate Malik Shahzad Awan received 9,966 votes.

He said that there is a difference of only 255 votes between the two contenders, while the number of the rejected votes in the constituency stands at 973. He added that the relevant RO had rejected his application for a recount in violation of the Elections Act.

Abdul Hakeem Baloch, the PPP’s candidate for NA-237, said in his petition that he had secured 31,907 votes while the PTI’s candidate Jamil Ahmed Khan received 33,269 votes. He said that there is a difference of only 1,362 votes between the two contenders, while the number of the rejected votes in the constituency stands at 2,184. He added that the relevant RO had rejected his application for a recount without providing any plausible reason.

After the preliminary hearing of the petitions, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar issued notices to the ECP, the deputy attorney general, the PTI’s relevant candidates and others, telling them to submit their comments on August 10.

The court said that in the meantime the ECP shall not notify the names of the candidates who received the highest number of votes and were elected in the three constituencies.