LAHORE, Aug 19: The ruling PML and the opposition made claims and counter-claims on Friday about the outcome of the first phase of the local government elections held in 17 districts of Punjab on Thursday. The MMA has refused to accept the results, saying the elections were not transparent and the religious alliance would take the matter to courts.
Talking to Dawn, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi claimed that his party had won more than 80 per cent of the seats on which the elections were held and that the voters’ response showed their trust in the policies and performance of the PML government in the country’s most populous province.
Rejecting the rigging allegations levelled by the opposition parties, the chief minister said if the charges were true then on what basis were they claiming that they had won the polls in many areas.
The chief minister said the ruling party had made spectacular gains in southern Punjab and opposition’s claims about their victory were unfounded. In Khushab district, he said, the ruling party-backed candidates had won all the seats.
Asked what the ruling party would do in case the opposition parties refused to accept the results or decided to raise the issue of rigging before courts, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said those elected with the support of opposition parties would not resign from their seats.
Punjab PPP president and information secretary Naveed Chaudhry said at a news conference that 80 per cent of the seats in Punjab had been bagged by the opposition candidates, including the PPP and other opposition parties with which it had made adjustments.
Refuting the ruling party’s claims about electoral victory, the PPP leaders said that in all parts of Punjab opposition had defeated the PML-backed contestants.
They claimed that in Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sargodha, Layyah, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur districts and Taunsa and Dera Ghazi Khan tehsils, candidates supported by the opposition had won. The ruling party nominees and the ‘turncoats’, they said, had faced a humiliating defeat.
The PPP leaders said the results amounted to a referendum against President Musharraf.
They alleged that the ruling party was trying to change the results, warning that serious reaction would be shown in case people’s verdict in favour of democratic forces was manipulated.
Asked whether the PPP accepted the results, Naveed Chaudhry said the voters had rejected the policies of Gen Musharraf.
Punjab PML-N secretary-general Zaeem Qadri said at a separate news conference the group led by his party’s provincial president Zulfikar Khosa had won 39 out of total 54 union councils in Dera Ghazi Khan, defeating the candidates put up by former president Sardar Farooq Leghari.
In Pakpattan, he said 36 out of the 50 union councils had been won by the PML-N. In Vehari where there were 26 union councils, 19 had been won by PML-N leader Tehmina Daulatana’s group.
In Sialkot, MNA Khwaja Asif had won nine out of the 16 UCs of the city. In other parts of the district 70 per cent of the opposition candidates had been elected, he claimed.
About the situation in Sargodha district, the PML-N leader said of the 45 UCs, 30 had been captured by opposition candidates.
In Rajanpur district, 31 seats had been won by the opposition, leaving only 13 for the Farooq Leghari group.
In Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Multan, Zaeem Qadri said the ruling party was way behind the opposition. The performance of the ARD parties in the remaining districts of Punjab was also superb, the PML-N leader claimed.
He said in 14 out of 17 districts where elections were held, the ruling party had faced serious setbacks, which he said reflected rejection of policies being pursued by President Musharraf.
He said the opposition apprehended that the chief minister would have the results changed through police. He said already, 90 per cent candidates had got their results and any attempt to change them would mean the government was blocking the way to democracy.
He said his party accepted the results received so far.
Answering a question, he said in case elected members tried to change loyalty after getting votes in the name of Mian Nawaz Sharif, the party would be justified in concluding that such people had abandoned their struggle for the rights of people.
Punjab MMA president Liaquat Baloch said the religious alliance had shown remarkable performance in these elections despite all tactics used by the government to keep the opposition legislators out of the field.
Still, he said the MMA did not accept the results and would challenge them before courts.
He said now the opposition parties were left with no option but to sit together and work out a joint line of action.
According to incomplete results collected by him from various areas, 32 MMA-backed candidates for nazim and 54 naib nazims had been elected. Similarly, he said, a total of 879 councillors had been elected, although results were still coming in.