|
|
|
| December 18, 2007 | Tuesday | Zilhaj 7, 1428 |
KARACHI: PPP complains about ‘rigging attempts’
KARACHI, Dec 17: The Pakistan People’s Party on Monday expressed grave concern over the alleged attempts of pre-poll rigging by Pakistan Muslim League-Q candidates and the caretaker regime across the country.
The PPP’s anti-poll rigging cell also blamed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for kidnapping party workers from different areas of the metropolis.
The cell claimed that a PPP worker Khalid, son of Abdul Majeed and a resident of Bazatta Line, was kidnapped and tortured allegedly by the MQM unit in charge for hoisting party flags and chalking in the constituency NA-250. He was severely wounded and had to be rushed to hospital where he was admitted. But, no FIR was registered at Saddar police station, it alleged, saying that this was the beginning of violence from the MQM and should be taken up at the highest level to get it halted forthwith.The party’s cell pointed out that Jacobabad District Police Officer Muneer Khuhro had instead of performing his duties has started acting as a protocol officer of the PML-Q candidate contesting elections from NA-208 constituency since the announcement of the election schedule. On the directive of PML-Q candidate, the DPO registered an FIR 165/2007 at Civil Lines police station against PPP leaders and activists, it alleged and demanded transfer of the case’s investigation to an ‘independent’ police officer in some other district.
Jacobabad District Coordination Officer Ijaz Ahmed Memon and other officials were also accused of misusing their authority and pressurising and black-mailing the government employees and prisoners to submit their postal ballots so that they could manipulate and rig the postal ballot as well.
The PPP also alleged that the caretaker prime minister Mohammadmian Soomro had activated the entire state machinery to rig the elections and manipulate the victory for his nephew from NA-208 constituency. It asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to take immediate action against the officials and stop this illegal exercise in violation of the election laws and rules.
In a separate statement issued here, PPP Central Information Secretary Sherry Rehman focused on the alleged attempts of PML-Q candidates and the caretaker government to rig the forthcoming polls on three national assembly seats i.e. NA-265 from Dera Bugti, NA-106 from Gujrat and NA-208 from Jacobabad.
According to her, the administration had broken all records to influence the polls even by resorting to violence and rig the elections in these constituencies.
It was alleged that PPP candidate Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti was kidnapped earlier this month and released only after the expiry of the date for submission of nomination papers, thus forcing him to stay out of the polls.
In Gujrat’s constituency NA-106, PPP candidate Qamar Zaman Kaera has repeatedly complained about the harassment at the hands of Chaudhry Wajahat’s armed guards. Mr Wajahat has been actively supporting the PML-Q candidate Syed Noorul Hassan Shah. The PPP candidate and his supporters were also held at gunpoint for several hours last week by the armed goons of PML-Q candidate.
“Incidents in Gujrat, Jacobabad and Dera Bugti are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Sherry Rehman, adding that her party had lodged over 1,100 complaints regarding pre-poll rigging with the ECP so far. No notice had been taken of the havoc that the nazims were wreaking with all control over the state funds and guns, she observed. The fundamentals like the list of polling stations had not been supplied to candidates, she added.
The PPP leader also claimed the existence of about the 39 ‘invisible’ polling stations in NA-216 and PS-31 constituencies. Though the actual Deh Jibbho has a total population of about a thousand people, there were at least three Deh Jibbhos recorded in the voters list.
|
|
|
|
