RO declines JUI-F plea for vote recount in Kurram by-polls

ISLAMABAD: The returning officer (RO) of Election Commission for NA-45 Kurram Agency (formerly federally administered tribal area or Fata) has declined to entertain a plea for recounting of the votes.

The request was made by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) candidate, Jamil Khan Chamkani, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Malik Fakhar Zaman Bangash has been declared the winner after serious dispute over the results.

The JUI-F is approaching the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for redress of the complaint. The elections were held on Friday and the results were withheld by the presiding officers in 17 polling stations after mid-night.

Till then, the JUI-F candidate was leading the PTI candidate by more than two thousand votes. Just before that, he was on the third position after Said Jamal Aurakzai. The JUI-F Member National Assembly (MNA) from KP told The News on Sunday that parliamentary leader of FATA areas Mufti Abdul Shakoor approached the RO with a plea that recount be held because the results were tampered with in 17 polling stations, which came to the RO with the pause of more than three hours.

The margin is too small between the winner and runner-up, the RO is competent for ordering the recounting, but he declined the request due to the pressure of the government.

Zahid Durrani said that no fog (dhund) was prevailing in the area but still the presiding officer went missing for more than three hours without assigning any reason.

He revealed that the rigging would conveniently be detected with the help of thumb impressions verification and for the purpose, the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) is being approached for the checking of thumb impressions.

Haji Muneer Aurakzai of the JUI-F was elected from the seat in 2018 elections. He passed away last year due to cardiac failure while attending the session of the National Assembly. The bye-election of Friday last was a contest among 27 candidates.

The break-up of the votes secured by the candidates as followed: Malik Fakhar Zaman Khan Bangash, PTI (16,911), Jamil Khan Chamkani, JUI-F (15,761), Said Jamal Aurakzai, Independent (15,559), Azram Khan Independent (5,222), Nowroz Khan, ANP (879), Amjad Ali Independent (717), Rakhmain Khan Independent (365), Muhammad Ismail, Independent (315), Muhammad Shoaib, Independent (229), Rafiullah, PPP (185), Arshad Zaman Bangash, Independent (88), Saifullah Khan, Independent (84), Niaz Badshah, Independent (70), Javid, Independent (68), Muhammad Yusuf, Independent (57), Ismail Khan, Ind. (56), Rasool Gul, Ind. (49), Abdul Qadir, Ind. (47), Eid Gul Mengal, Ind. (33), Inayatullah, Ind. (31), Muhammad Kamil, Ind. (30), Maula Jan, Ind. (30), Khayal Marjan, Ind. (18), Habib Malik, Ind. (17), Sher Muhammad Khan, Ind. (13), Malik Rasheed Ahmad Khan, Ind. (10), Muhammad Luqman, Ind. (3).