MANSEHRA: Vote recount in PK-40 constituency here is likely to be completed today (Sunday) as the Islamabad High Court has rejected the plea of the winner for a halt to the exercise by the returning officer.

“This is the second attempt by my rival and PML-N election nominee Sardar Shahjehan Yusuf to get vote recounting at my request stopped but the high court blocked that by rejecting his petition,” PTI-backed candidate Abdul Shakoor Khan told reporters here on Saturday.

He said Mr Yusuf, who was ahead of all other candidates by 328 votes only according to Form 47, first moved the Election Commission of Pakistan against vote recount orders but as his plea was rejected, he petitioned the IHC, which, too, threw out his request.

“I think all votes will be recounted today (Sunday),” he said.

Mr Shakoor said five lawyers each from both sides were present during the recounting.

PK-40 returning officer Saleem Khan Jadoon had ordered the recounting of ballot papers.

Form 47 issued by him showed Mr Shakoor Khan with 43,680 votes against 44,012 votes of Mr Yusuf.

Meanwhile, people of Balakot tehsil here on Saturday demanded early completion of the reconstruction of tehsil headquarters hospital complaining they lack adequate health services.

“The DHQ hospital has been functioning in a rented building since the destruction of its main building in the 2005 earthquake as the reconstruction hasn’t been completed even a decade after its launch,” chairman of the Garlat Neighbourhood Council Malik Maroof told reporters.

He said currently, the hospital didn’t have surgical and medical wards as well as ECG, ultrasound and other machines, and referred patients to hospitals in Mansehra and other parts of Hazara Division for hospitalisation and treatment.

Mr Maroof said the situation forced patients to go to private labs for tests.

He complained about the suspension of work on the DHQ hospital in the past saying survivors of the earthquake in Balakot and Garlat areas suffered its brunt the most.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024