ISLAMABAD: The formal announcement of the results of the local government elections held in the federal capital has been delayed, due to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) increased workload.

In the election schedule issued ahead of the polls, the ECP had fixed Dec 3 as the date for declaring results.

All the applications filed by PTI for the recounting of votes in ten union councils (UC) of the city have also been turned down by the returning officers concerned. The scrutiny of votes at UC-4, meanwhile, continued late into the night.

Three candidates contesting the chairman seat in UC-4 Bhara Kahu filed for the recounting of votes, where independent candidate Hamid Kiyani – backed by the Bukharis of Malpur – and PML-N candidate Malik Ishtiaq both received 2,271 votes. The third candidate, Chaudhry Tariq Dildar, got 2,233 votes.

PTI had filed applications for recounting in seven UCs, including UC-13 Humuk, UC-20 Ali Pur, UC-22 Chak Shahzad, UC-30 G-7, UC-34 G-9, UC-39 Mera Sumbal Jaffar and UC-42 1-10.

“We also challenged the results of UC-44 Bokhra today, and requested that the thumb impressions be checked. And a petition had been filed for recounting in UC-32 G-8/3,4 and UC-33 G-8/1,2,” PTI Islamabad chapter media coordinator Chaudhry Rizwan said.

However, after the recounting of votes for one woman councillor and one general councillor in UC-42 and one general councillor in UC-43, the returning officer (RO) turned down PTI’s request for the recounting of votes for the chairman seat.

PML-N candidates won the chairman seat from these two UCs, which consist of the I-10 and H-10 sectors.

In his ruling the RO said that following the examination of applications submitted by candidates for UCs and wards, no reason could be found to invoke the provisions contained in Clause 36(5) of the ICT LG Conduct of Election Rules 2015, and disposed of the applications without any action.

An ECP spokesperson said that the election results would be compiled and released three days after they have been received from all the ROs.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015