The Supreme Court has rejected the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) plea against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to order reelection in Daska.
The ECP had ordered re-polling in the NA-75 constituency after evidence of rigging was presented by its presiding officer in a hearing.
The ECP had earlier scheduled the by-elections on March 18, but it postponed them to April 10 later. The result of the by-polls originally conducted at the constituency on February 19 had been declared null and void by the ECP, following suspicions that results in 20 polling stations were “tampered with.”
A plea was filed by Ali Asjad Malhi, a PTI candidate, against the election watchdog decision in the Supreme Court. The SC suspended the ECP decision to hold the reelection in the constituency till the conclusion of the case.
In its short verdict today, the top court upheld the ECP’s decision to hold the reelection and dismissed the plea filed by Malhi. Following the verdict, the PML-N candidate, Nousheen Iftikhar on whose plea the elections in Daska were declared void, said that it was the victory of the democratic forces.
“We don’t want any rigging and the elections should be free and fair,” she remarked.
Talking to media, PTI candidate Asjad Malhi said that he along with his party respects the courts decisions. He said that the PTI was ready to defeat PML-N in the coming elections in the constituency.
