Taking notice of video clips and footage allegedly showing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers distributing money among the voters of NA-133, in exchange for a pledge to vote in their favour, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday sought forensic reports from the relevant authorities by November 30.
The ECP also sought a reply from Shaista Pervaiz Malik, the PML-N candidate for NA-133.
The ECP swung into action after some video clips went viral on social media in which certain people were seen distributing money among the voters in exchange for their vote in PML-N’s favour.
The ECP wrote letters to the Police Punjab inspector general, Lahore commissioner, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), to play their due role in ensuring that the upcoming by-polls were free and fair.
In the letters, the ECP directed the authorities to carry out the forensic analysis of the video clips to ascertain their originality and the source of their production, besides identifying the places and the men whose faces were visible in the same footage, to arrest them over their corruption in the said constituency.
The development took place just a day after the ECP summoned a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate to explain his position over the charges of bribing the voters to get votes in the same constituency.
Holding fair and free elections has become a big challenge for the ECP as December 5, the date on which the by-election would be held in NA-133, was approaching fast and both main and opposition parties have accused each other of bribery and buying votes for that day.
Meanwhile, the PML-N rejected the video clips, terming them as ‘fake propaganda’ against the party.
“I strongly condemn the PPP’s hateful business of buying votes in NA-133 for the upcoming election,” PML-N leader Ali Pervaiz Malik said in a video message.
He said that he was hopeful that the PPP leadership would take notice of this hateful crime of buying votes in the said constituency. Malik also accused the PPP of running a propaganda campaign against the PML-N.
“In order to counter the footage of buying votes in NA-133, the PPP intentionally got fake video clips and footages produced, and attributed the same to the PML-N to tarnish its image,” said Malik, adding that all the characters in the said videos were wearing masks.
He said that the people of Lahore, especially the residents of NA-133, had rejected the video clips and the propaganda campaign against the PML-N.
“The people of NA-133 are with the PML-N, as they stood by the party even during the cruel period of Musharraf’s dictatorship. Muhammad Pervaiz Malik secured 90,000 votes in general elections from same constituency in 2018,” he added. He said the rival candidate of the PPP could not get even one-tenth of the votes of the PML-N candidate.
Malik urged PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to take notice of the allegations and immediately stop propaganda against the PML-N.
“The rival candidate of PPP could bag only 5,000 votes from NA-133 in the general elections of 2018,” he said.
On the other hand, PPP Parliamentary leader and PPP Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza strongly criticised the PML-N over the issue of ‘buying votes’ from the constituency concerned.
“PML-N vote nahi note ko izzat de rahi hey (PML-N instead of giving due respect to vote was giving respect to money),” said Murtaza.
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