The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday refused to stop the vote recount in the National Assembly constituency NA-249 despite boycott by major political parties, except the People’s Party (PPP).
An ECP official said in a statement that it was bound to recount the votes that were polled and rejected on the orders of chief election commissioner on the PML-N candidate’s petition.
“Despite the boycott, the recount process will be completed as per the order,” he said.
The political parties were demanding data which was not possible to retrieve, he added.
Ironically, the ECP official said every vote would be re-checked in the presence of all candidates [despite the fact that the candidates have boycotted the proceedings].
The boycotting political parties have alleged that the bags containing votes were not sealed when brought for the recount and that officials refused to provide them Form 45 and Form 46.
They have written a letter to the returning officer (RO) saying that they were not provided Form 46 and the counterfoil of ballot papers. So they were boycotting the proceedings.
MIFTAH ISMAIL:
Meanwhile, PML-N candidate Miftah Ismail on Thursday filed an application to stop recounting of votes.
Earlier, he had said that the bags were not sealed when reached RO office.
He alleged that 167 forms had no signatures of the presiding officers.
The ECP accepted Miftah’s plea on May 4 and ordered recounting of votes.
Miftah claimed that their mandate was “stolen” in the election.
The PPP won the NA 249 by-election held on April 29, defeating the PML-N by 683 votes.
