February 24, 2008	Sunday	Safar 16, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: The Pakistan People’s Party has accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League-N of rigging the elections, calling for re-polling in a number of constituencies.

“We demand judicial intervention into the rigging,” PPP leader Dr Safdar Abbasi said at a press conference in the People’s Secretariat on Saturday.

He was accompanied by a number of PPP candidates from constituencies where the polls were allegedly rigged.

He said the party had sent more than one thousand complaints about pre-poll rigging to the Election Commission, but no action was taken. He alleged that results of at least eight National Assembly seats and 10 of the provincial assembly were changed.

The joint PPP-PML-N candidate from NA-250 in Karachi, Mirza Ikhtiar Beg, said he had sought “additional security” for 23 polling stations as “I knew the MQM has plans to rig the polls”.

He said Rangers were withdrawn and “polling staff was changed to allow rigging”.

Dr Shaheen Zameer, PPP candidate for the NA-21 seat in Mansehra, accused her opponent, Faiz Mohammad Khan of PML-N, of using ‘unfair means’.

The PPP candidate for the NA-263 seat in Loralai, Mir Baz Khan Khetran, spoke of “rigging and irregularities” in Duki tehsil, where voter turnout in some polling stations “exceeded the total number of registered voters”.

He asked the Election Commission to withhold notification of the election result of NA-263 and order re-polling in Duki tehsil.

Dr Afsarul Mulk, another PPP candidate from the NA-31 seat in Shangla, alleged that Amir Muqam of the PML-Q had used unfair means to defeat him. He said results of 30 polling stations had been destroyed and the returning officer had informed the Election Commission in writing about it.

Chaudhry Altaf Hussain, PPP candidate for the NA-181 seat in Layyah, also called for re-election.