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KARACHI, Dec 5: The Pakistan People’s Party has set up what it calls an ‘anti-poll rigging cell’ at its provincial secretariat and has launched a verbal tirade against the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, particularly against former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim. Ex-senator Taj Haider is heading the cell, which will issue its claims about ‘rigging’ in each district of the province on a daily basis.
In the past one week alone, the PPP has submitted piles of complaints to the Election Commission of Pakistan (EC) regarding the alleged misconduct of the PML-Q. The PPP has alleged that not only have the supporters of the PML-Q been violating electoral laws, they have also been resorting to extreme measures, including murder, to eliminate their opponents in the PPP.
The party submitted the following complaints to the EC pointing to the alleged misconduct of the former ruling party. The Election Commission has yet to respond to any of the PPP’s pleas.
According to a PPP release issued by its central information secretary Sherry Rehman, a party supporter, Noor Mohammad, was crushed to death near Kolai allegedly by the party workers of Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The PPP claims that the police post Kaloi, tehsil Diplo, has been taken over by armed criminals who are openly roaming about town, brandishing guns with impunity in an attempt to terrorise PPP supporters. Not only is the Thar police force watching silently, it is actively working alongside the Arbab group as the ex-CM is still being provided full protocol, it alleged.
‘Manipulating’ the election
The PPP claims that the former chief minister cannot win the elections without “manipulating” the vote. Soon after the announcement of the election schedule, Rahim arranged for Zaheer Ahmed Khan, his close aide, to be posted as the additional district and sessions judge in Tharparkar. He was allotted a room in the MPA Hostel on the directives of Mr Rahim. Repeated requests by Nawab Yousuf Talpur, former federal minister and member of the PPP’s CEC, to the EC in this regard have failed to yield any results.
According to the PPP, in District Ghotki, District Nazim Ali Gohar Mahar and the District Nazim Sukkur Nasir Hussain Shah had allegedly violated the EC’s code of conduct and led a procession to support the contesting candidates that were the Ghotki nazim’s brothers. Despite the fact that the nazim’s participation in the election campaign of his brother was widely reported in the media, the EC “did not move a finger at this blatant violation of the election code of conduct”, the party said.
According to the code, any nazim found electioneering or making any attempts to influence the elections stands disqualified, while misconduct is punishable by two years’ imprisonment. Repeated requests by the PPP candidates in Ghotki PS-3, PS-6 and NA-201 have generated no response from the EC.
In District Thatta, the assistant election commissioner refused to provide the voters’ list for PS-85 requested by the PPP candidate, Sassui Palijo. The AEC was acting under orders of provincial caretaker minister Ijaz Shah Shirazi, the district nazim and the DCO. These three persons have been seen openly moving polling stations from villages to the Autaqs of waderas, the PPP alleged.
The names of PPP voters in the voting lists are being deliberately omitted, while the EC has also been informed that close relatives of the provincial caretaker minister and the district nazim are contesting elections and their personal staff has been deputed to monitor and issue directives to local EC officials, the party claimed. The EC has failed to respond to any of the PPP complaints in District Thatta. The PPP’s central information secretary deplored the EC’s “indifference” to the “massive poll rigging exercise” taking place across Sindh.
“The PPP has repeatedly pointed out instances of election rigging to a deaf EC. We have no reason to believe in the credibility of the upcoming elections when such flagrant violations of election rules are taking place all over the province. We have no reason to believe the EC’s claims of facilitating free and fair elections, unless our complaints are looked into”, said Rehman.
