HYDERABAD: Mutta­hida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan organised a protest demonstration outside the local press club on Wednesday against alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.

The participants raised slogans against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and “rigging”. They carried placards and banners inscribed with slogans against “MQM-P’s stolen mandate”.

The party’s deputy convener Kanwar Naveed Jamil, speaking to them, argued: “When selection was actually intended, why were billions of rupees from taxpayers’ money spent on the election exercise? The purpose could have been achieved by spending just a few hundred millions”.

He told the audience that votes were indeed polled [in favour of MQM-P candidates], but they were not counted. “Fake results were announced after our polling agents were expelled from all polling stations,” he alleged.

He noted that costly paper for ballots was imported from Europe and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed at polling stations. He claimed that the cameras were obtained at an exorbitantly high rent in order to show to the world that the elections were free and fair.

He said that the ECP and other state institutions forgot that there is power of God as well. “Today, everyone is blaming the ECP. The world is laughing at Pakistan for holding such elections, which have been held in a manner that some sort of enmity is committed with the country,” he claimed.

Mr Jamil said the MQM-P was right in its assertion that its mandate had been stolen [through rigging]. He observed that law-enforcers were deployed at polling stations of Sindh’s urban centres whereas Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was given a free hand to use police and buy presiding officers in the rest of the province.

He called for an audit of the accounts pertaining to the import of the paper for ballots to ascertain as to what quantity of it was actually used and what was the quantum of the remainder of the paper. He said the ECP and other state institutions must get the audit done to clear themselves of the blame.

He recalled that when the MQM-P had raised a hue and cry [over alleged rigging] nobody supported it, and pointed out that today the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was facing the same excesses. He urged all political parties to raise their voice against these elections. “If today a particular party is benefited, tomorrow some other party will take benefit of it.”

He also urged the ECP to hold a recount of votes at all those polling stations where MQM-P’s polling agents were expelled. He demanded that the footages of the polling stations’ CCTV cameras installed be shared with the polling agents concerned.

Mr Jamil claimed that his party possessed “solid evidence” that the CCTV recording was switched off at the place where record of polling stations was to be kept and final results were to be compiled.

Another MQM-P leader, Aslam Bhutto, remarked that except for the chief election commissioner, the entire world was saying that the elections were rigged.

Zafar Ahmed Siddiqui said that rigging continued even after the polling as recounting of votes was not allowed despite valid requests.

MNA-elect Sabir Qaimkhani said that the July 25 elections had become controversial from day one. MNA-elect Salahuddin remarked that “when law-enforcers become party at polling stations, such results cannot be ruled out”. Losing MQM-P candidate Younus Gaddi also spoke at the rally which was attended by Hyderabad Mayor Syed Tayyab Hussain and MPAs-elect Nadeem Siddiqui, Nasir Hussain and Mohammad Rashid Khilji.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2018