Responding to criticism from contesting parties over the delay in the results of the second phase of local government elections in Sindh, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said that it takes time to prepare the results and “the process is complicated”.
In a statement, the ECP said the results were being transferred to the offices of returning officers (ROs) from all polling stations and were being prepared on an Excel sheet on computers.
On Sunday, the second phase of the long-delayed local government elections in Sindh were held. The delay in declaration of results raised concerns over the transparency of electoral process and the performance of the ECP.
As the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the PPP claimed their victory in the polls, the MQM-P said low voter turnout was the victory of its decision to boycott the elections.
JI was leading in the elections with 34 seats followed by PPP (24), PTI (20), and TLP (1) as per the results of 78 Union Councils (UCs) out of the total 246, Aaj News reported.
Hafiz Naeem, JI Karachi chapter chief and the party’s mayoral candidate for the city, won from a UC in North Nazimabad. PTI’s candidate for Karachi mayor Khurram Sher Zaman lost his Union Committee in Saddar town to Najmi Alam of the PPP. Firdous Shamim Naqvi, PTI’s second mayoral contender, was facing tough competition from his opponents in a Soldier Bazaar UC.
Hafiz Naeem claims ‘rigging in process’ amid unusual delay in results
Hafiz Naeem threatened to stage sit-ins across Karachi if the results were not announced on time.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi on Sunday night, Naeem said that the presiding officers were bound to give Forms 11 and 12 as per law but some Deputy Commissioners working in favour of the PPP-led Sindh government were interfering in the process.
“If the forms are not provided in the next one hour and the ROs do not announce the results, there will be sit-ins across the city,” he warned, adding that the party would announce its strategy after consultation.
MQM-P boycotts Karachi, Hyderabad LG polls
After a day-long consultation, MQM-P on Saturday night announced that it would boycott the local government (LG) elections.
Earlier, amid speculation that the MQM-P could part ways with the coalition government or even boycott the elections, Bilawal offered the party some last-minute advice.
Talking to a private TV channel, he said the MQM-P was a “very old and senior” political party and advised it to “fully participate” in the LG elections, adding that the elections were crucial so political parties could work together for the development of Karachi and Hyderabad divisions.