QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has alleged massive rigging in the by-election in the Balochistan Assembly’s constituency PB-47 (Kech III), claiming that its candidate had won the election but the results were later changed.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, senior BNP-M leaders Lashkari Raisani, Advocate Sajid Tareen, Ghulam Nabi Marri and Malik Naseer Shahwani expressed doubts over the credibility of the by-election.

“There was open rigging in favour of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party’s candidate,” they said, adding that the BNP-M candidate had obtained the highest votes from a sensitive area of Mand.

“In Mand, members of the polling staff were calling voters through loudspeakers, but only four votes were cast there. The ruling party’s candidate, however, succeeded in getting thousands of magic votes,” they said.

They said the BNP-M would constitute a committee to decide its future line of action. They said public mandate should be given respect, adding that people had a right to protest against the stolen mandate.

Mr Shahwani claimed that in general elections some hidden forces had turned the BNP-M victory into a defeat on National Assembly’s constituency NA-265 and provincial assembly’s constituency PB-31.

They demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan take notice of massive rigging in the by-election.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2018