TIMERGARA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq here on Sunday demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue notification about the victory of his party’s candidate in the by-election on provincial assembly seat, PK-95, without any further delay.

Addressing a news conference at Timergara Press Club, he said that ECP had been delaying the notification since May 7. He said that JI candidate Izazul Mulk Afkari had bagged 18,798 votes in the by-election.

The JI chief alleged that ECP was making by-poll controversial over the women disenfranchisement issue.

He said that neither JI nor its candidate had anything to do with the women voting on polls’ day. He said that ECP was depriving the residents of PK-95 constituency of the right of representation.

Flanked by MNA Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, former MNA Maulana Asadullah, JI district emir Izazul Mulk Afkari and information secretary Malik Sher Bahadar, Mr Siraj said the constituency was sensitive as it was located on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said that ECP should issue notification about the success of JI candidate. More than 300,000 people of Jandol were being punished for nothing, he said.

The JI chief said that several political parties had reservations about ECP and its decisions but delay in the notification was making it more controversial.

He said that his party was supporting PTI government in the province for development of Malakand division from where majority of seats had been won by JI in 2013 general and 2015 local government elections.

About the NA-122 by-election, the JI chief said that they had empowered the Lahore chapter of the party to make alliance with any party.

Mr Afkari had won the by-election held on May 7 in the constituency but provincial office of ECP declared the results as null and void as none of the women voters had cast vote in the polls. The ECP had also announced re-election in the constituency on June 12.

However, JI moved Peshawar High Court against the decision of ECP and got a stay order. Now the case is under-trial.

Published in Dawn, September 28th , 2015

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