ECP receives 136 complaints of violations

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday said that the electoral body received 136 complaints about irregularities, violations of election code of conduct and untoward incidents and the ECP had ordered inquiry into Khairpur incident in which 12 people were killed in a shootout between two rival groups.
Talking to media persons here on Saturday, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad said that the first phase of local bodies (LB) elections remained peaceful despite some sporadic incidents of violence.
He said that order had been issued to arrest ex-MNA Rai Mujtaba Kharal for slapping a presiding officer. He said that there would be no concession to anyone found to have broken the law or the code of conduct. He praised the media for highlighting the irregularities.
An ECP source told ‘The News’ that an FIR had been registered against Kharal and the secretary also telephoned the victimised Presiding Officer, Samar Abbas and assured him of full cooperation on behalf of the ECP.
The ECP, the secretary informed the journalists, had sought report from the Sindh Inspector General of Police regarding the gunning down of eleven persons at a Khairpur polling station.
“According to the initial report, the incident appeared to be result of local enmity. But we shall await the police report and negligence from any side will not be tolerated,” he asserted.
He noted that re-polling would be held in 20 union council wards of Punjab and six of Sindh after it was found that there was misprinting of ballot papers and election symbols had been wrongly allotted to candidates. He said that those responsible for this irregularity would face action.
The re-polling would be held in ward 14 of Bhakkar UC-18, ward 2 of Faisalabad UC-176 and ward 6 of UC-11. These also included UC-99, UC-18 and ward 5 of UC-63 and ward 5 of UC-5. Re-polling would also be held in Lahore UC-231 and UC-185. Partial polling would be held in Bahawalnagar, Vehari and Nankana Sahib.
Re-polling would be held for Jacobabad’s one general seat of UC-33. Likewise, in Nauthal and Mitri UCs, re-polling would be conducted for the seats of chairman and vice-chairman whereas in Ghotki UC, re-polling would take place for a general seat.
The secretary said Larkana returning officer had been asked to take action against the persons involved in showing currency notes to voters for electoral support outside polling stations. A report had also been sought from the returning officer in this regard.
He pointed out that so far 127 complaints had been received from Punjab and Sindh — 81 from Punjab and 46 from Sindh. He explained that the ECP would proceed in the light of complaints against returning officers, presiding officers or other polling staff if they violated the law or rules.
The secretary said the ECP closely watched the poll-related events and would ensure that these would not repeat during the second and third phases of local bodies’ elections afterwards.
Replying to questions, he said the ECP had been issuing notifications since October 3 regarding those who returned uncontested. He was hopeful the media would follow the code with regard to announcement of election results.
Meanwhile, the ECP called for report on the explosive situation, which prevailed in Faisalabad, where supporters of Ch Sher Ali, a disgruntled PML-N politician and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had also clashed. Rana was unable even to cast his vote.