Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has denied PTI’s request for a recount of the ballots in PP-7 Rawalpindi-II, which it lost to the PML-N by a slim margin of 49 votes.
On Thursday, a five-member panel led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja made the judgment public.
In his decision, he stated that the petitioner, PTI candidate Shabbir Awan, was unable to demonstrate any fraud or irregularities during the election or to provide a justification for the recount.
PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood referred to the decision as “against the law” on Twitter. He said that the ECP’s loss of neutrality and integrity has profound effects on democracy.
PML-N Raja Sagheer defeated Awan in the by-election for the provincial assembly seat in Punjab on Sunday by a narrow margin of just 49 votes.
Awan then asked for a recount by submitting an application to the returning officer. However, his request was denied.
Later, Awan had complained to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court over the RO’s “illegal decision” to deny his request for a recount in PP-7.
But on Wednesday, the court stopped the RO from combining the PP-7 results and changed Awan’s petition against the RO’s rejection of his request for a recount into an application that the ECP will consider.
According to the statement, petitioner is instructed to come before the respondent [ECP] on July 21 at 10:00am when the necessary shall be done.
On Thursday during the hearing, the CEC noted that the PTI did not submit any applications till after 5:00 pm on the day of the election.
He pointed out despite that the PTI continued to blame the ECP. “You made a plea to the R&I department but withdrew it after 10 minutes,” he said.
The CEC then contacted the R&I branch officials and requested that they produce a written report of everything that occurred on Election Day, emphasizing that everything should be understood.
Here, Awan’s attorney claimed that his client appeared in court under the LHC’s instructions.
Chairman ECP then challenged PTI’s assertion that the RTS system was utilized during the by-elections by reading out the petition that was presented to the high court.
