Tribunal nullifies elections, orders repoll in 33 polling stations of PP-97

E-Paper | July 22, 2026

LAHORE: An election tribunal on Tuesday declared null and void the election of MPA Ashraf Warraich, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate and ordered a re-election in 33 polling stations of the PP-97 constituency in Gujranwala area.

The decision came during a hearing presided by retired district and sessions judge Kazim Ali Malik of an election petition filed by Nasir Cheema, a losing candidate from the constituency belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

The petitioner had alleged rigging in the area during the General Elections held in 2013 and claimed that Warraich’s success was engineered.

The tribunal had ordered the recounting in 33 polling stations of Gujranwala.

During the recounting process 33 vote bags were found without any stamps and the bags did not bear any signature or seal of election commission. The result sheets formulated were also not made in the sheets which election commission provided.

Declared the elections in these polling stations as 'null and void', the tribunal ordered re-elections in 33 polling stations of Gujranwala's PP-97 constituency.

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waqar jan

Aug 05, 2014 01:10pm

No no no - Its not ONE constituency - these decisions won't save u Main Sahab . You and your sold judiciary stole mandate of this country. Now its pay back time

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Imran

Aug 05, 2014 01:12pm

And then they say, "IK is mad"

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tab

Aug 05, 2014 01:16pm

This has been a common rigging practice in Punjab...IK is on the dot...On the role of ROs (judges) everybody agrees that they played a nefarious role. Remember Zardari as President of Pakistan, had said 2013 was the ROs election. PMLN did not trust the people and instead sought the help of ROs. And that is why 770 votes of Nawaz Sharif became 7700!!!

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ashfaq ahmad

Aug 05, 2014 01:28pm

nothing will happened, there will be rigging again, in that area, but the most important question is, why those people are not punished who are involved in rigging, a big question. just re election ?

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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Aug 05, 2014 01:34pm

Anyone from PML-N would like to criticize IK for his Azadi march now?

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Omar

Aug 05, 2014 02:27pm

Lol... so if Judiciary decides against a particular party then it is independent and if not then it is subservient? Selective acceptance of judiciary by 'enlightened Pakistanis' is laughable.

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Ahmad

Aug 05, 2014 02:37pm

Stamp can be put anytime and signatures can be done anytime. Is this a good enough criteria. I am shocked by the lameness of election tribunal.

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Atam Vetta

Aug 05, 2014 02:39pm

Yes, I do even though I do not subscribe to the PMLN or any political party in Pakistan or Britain. The story vindicates the stand that the proper place, as in any civilised country, to correct election malpractices is a properly constituted Court and not 'Azadi' mass demonstration.

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nafees

Aug 05, 2014 03:05pm

Whoever was responsible for ensuring fair elections should be jailed for the fraud. I wonder where the honorable Fakhroo Bhai is these days!

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ashfaq ahmad

Aug 05, 2014 03:13pm

@Atam Vetta okay, then how can we deal with stay orders taken by pmln. i wonder why there are stay orders in public voting matters.

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jay

Aug 05, 2014 03:23pm

we want re-election now!

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Goga Nalaik

Aug 05, 2014 03:52pm

Not a well calculated attemp from the election commission! It's too late. We want mid-term general elections in Pakistan now.

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Tariq, Lahore

Aug 05, 2014 03:55pm

Confirmation of rigging! The cat's out of the bag!

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concerned citizen

Aug 05, 2014 05:02pm

@Omar it may mean that the evidence was too overwhelming to deny. There has got to be a reason to rule against a sitting government because the odds in Pakistan are in govt's favor. The issue is the system that needs to change and we need to voice our opinion in its support. Our electoral systems needs to be thumbprint based and automated for the next elections to finish off the rigging issue once and for all. It is not rocket science, if we start now it can be done in less than a year. We already have the data with the best database('warehousing') software ('Wallmart' which has the biggest database in the world uses it) to back it and just need the hardware. We can have NCR (the company whose ATMs we use) build it for us if we are too lazy or incompetent. If we can have ATMs in every city, which can handle millions of banking transactions,we can surely have a hardware for taking the the most important decision for democracy.

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Hasnains Haque

Aug 05, 2014 06:25pm

I hope all those against PTI will now listen. Tip of the iceberg.

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Hasnains Haque

Aug 05, 2014 06:26pm

How many more.

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