Elections 2018: PPP may ask for recount in all seats with 5pc difference, says Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: The Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said on Tuesday the PPP will consider going to the ECP for recounting on all seats from 2018 onwards where the difference between the votes of the winners and losers was just 5 percent. He was reacting to the ECP's decision of re-counting in the NA-249 bypolls.

Reacting through his twitter account on Tuesday, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto tweeted: "PPP welcomes new precedent set by allowing constituency wide recount without specific polling station complaints." He complained that election results of many seats from 2018 fell within 5pc threshold, but candidates were not given a chance, but with the new ECP order the PPP will consider approaching ECP for recounts on all such seats.

In the meanwhile, Central Secretary Information PPP Faisal Karim Kundi, while welcoming the decision of the Election Commission, said the applications by PPP candidates for recount have also been pending for two and a half years without recount. He said that now it is hoped that the Election Commission will also consider them for recounting. Kundi asked that if there was rigging in NA-249, then why was no complaint was lodged with the Election Commission during the polling. He said that the decision of the Election Commission to recount NA-249 without any evidence of wrongdoing was shocking. “If recounts are possible in NA-249 without evidence of fraud, then it will be used as an example in every election,” he said.

He also termed the demand for inviting the army to intervene after the defeat in the Karachi by-elections, as regrettable.