ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan has suspended the victory notification of Balochistan minister and PPP lawmaker Ali Madad Jattak from PB 45 and summoned the Retur­ning Officer as well as original Form-45 of the 15 polling stations where re-poll was held on Jan 5.

On Sept 16, 2024, an election tribunal had declared the victory of Balochistan Minister for Agriculture Mir Ali Madad Jattak null and void and ordered re-polling at 15 polling stations in the PB-45 Quetta constituency. The tribunal, headed by Justice Abdullah Baloch of the Balochistan High Court had rendered the decision on a petition filed by Mir Usman Pirkani of JUI-F.

Mr Jattak, however, retained his Balochistan Assmebly seat in the by-election held at 15 polling stations of PB-45 Quetta. According to unofficial results, Mr Jattak secured 6,883 votes in the by-election held on the election tribunal’s order. Nasarullah Zerey of the Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party (PkNAP) remained second with 4,122 votes, while JUI-F’s Mir Usman Pirkani received 3,731 votes.

Mr Pirkani had filed a plea with the ECP alleging that the RO ‘manipulated’ all the election documents, pertaining to 15 polling stations where re-poll was ordered by the tribunal. He contended that Form-45 of the respective 15 polling stations handed over to the respective polling agents by the polling officers concerned did not match with Form-47.

The ECP issued notices to RO and all other respondents to appear before the commission and submit their response to the petition.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025