PTI Files Petition Seeking Annulment Of NA-249 By-Election

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has filed a petition seeking annulment of the NA-249 by-election of the Karachi constituency.

The petition filed by PTI in the Election Commission stated that before the election, NA-249 17,000 votes were transferred from Karachi to other cities and the preferred officers were brought from the Education Department as Presiding Officers.

The petition said that the PPP had started development projects to win over its candidate, adding that Form 45 had not been handed over to polling agents at several polling stations.

It may be recalled that the recount of votes in the recent by-elections in the NA-249 constituency of Karachi is underway but all parties except PPP have boycotted the recount process.

Candidates allege that the polling bags that were brought were not sealed and were open, leading to a boycott of the recount.

The second objection raised by the candidates is that they have not been provided Forms 45 and 46.

It may be recalled that PPP candidate Qadir Khan Mandokhel had won the by-election of NA-249 on April 29 and Muftah Ismail was in the second position while the difference between the two votes was 683 votes.

Miftah Ismail had requested the Election Commission to recount the votes on which the Election Commission has ordered a recount in the entire constituency. However, now Miftah Ismail has also filed a request to stop the counting of votes.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has on Tuesday this week accepted the plea of PML-N’s Miftah Ismail for vote recounts of NA-249 by-poll results.

A four-member commission of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the plea.

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The ECP directed all parties to reach the office of the returning officer on May 6 at 9 am to recount votes in the NA-249 Karachi by-election.

Previously, the ECP had dismissed pleas of PTI and PML-N candidates seeking to recount votes in the NA-249 Karachi by-election.

The commission’s returning officer (RO) dismissed the election petitions filed by PTI’s Amjad Afridi and PML-N’s Miftah Ismail.

Miftah Ismail pointed out discrepancies in Form-45 and Form-47. He wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner to have his grievance redressed after the RO rejected his vote recount plea.

Note that Abdul Qadir Mandokhail of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had secured victory in the NA-249 by-election held on Thursday in the city’s District West.

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PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhail bagged 16,156 votes to win the seat, followed by PML-N’s Miftah Ismail who secured 15,473. While Nazir Ahmed of outlawed TLP trailed on the third position by receiving 11,125 votes.

PSP’s Mustafa Kamal acquire only 9,227 votes, followed by PTI’s Amjad Afridi with 8,922 votes and MQM-P’s Muhammed Mursaleen with 7,511 votes.

Both parties had claimed victory for their candidates mid-way into counting, capturing the attention of audiences awaiting results.

The PML-N blamed PPP for attempting to rig the result, saying they would not accept the result without challenging the Election Commission.

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