Miftah Ismail demands CEC to seize NA-249 by-election record

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail has requested the chief election commissioner (CEC) to take emergency steps for taking the custody of the NA-249 by-election record, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Miftah Ismail has sought emergency action by CEC to seize sealed ballot papers and other election material used in NA-249 by-polls. He stated in its plea that the election material should be kept at a secure location until the emergence of the final result of the by-polls.

He demanded CEC to keep the election material on a safe location under the supervision of Rangers or Pakistan Army. He thanked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for issuing a stay order on the results of NA-249 by-election.

Read: FAFEN finds irregularities in NA-249 by-election

Ismail claimed that the majority of presiding officers (POs) and election staff belong to the Sindh government which illegally supported the provincial government and each political party has registered their complaints against it.

He expressed suspicions over the security of the ballot papers that are currently under the custody of the police forces which is a subordinate department of the Sindh government. He added that suspicions are prevailing for changes in the ballot papers, counter files, ballot paper accounts and stamped copies of electoral lists.

Earlier on May 1, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had issued a stay order on NA-249 by-poll results after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail challenged the results.

Read: PPP decides to appear before ECP in plea challenging NA-249 by-poll results

Other than issuing a stay order, the ECP also set a hearing on the petition of Miftah Ismail for May 04.

However, the election commission had turned down pleas of PTI and PML-N candidates seeking recounting of votes cast in Thursday’s NA-249 Karachi by-election.

During the by-polls, PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhail had won the election by securing 16,150 votes, according to unofficial results. PML-N’s Miftah Ismail was the runner-up with 15,473 votes. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s Mufti Nazeer Kamalvi clinched the third position with 11,125 votes, followed by Mustafa Kamal of the PSP who bagged 9,227 votes.

PTI’s candidate Amjad Afridi had secured 8,922 votes while Hafiz Mursaleen of the MQM 7,511.