After the voting held on February 8 in India’s neighboring country Pakistan, counting of votes is taking place today on February 9.
But shocking reports and videos of rigging in vote counting are emerging from all sides. On the day of voting, there were reports of rigging, violence and shutdown of mobile phone services across the country in Pakistan.
Amid these reports, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) started announcing the results of the elections late on Friday night, more than 10 hours after the voting ended.
As soon as the counting started, many videos of candidates flouting the counting of votes surfaced. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) claimed that ballot papers were snatched from polling staff in PS-105 (Karachi East) constituency.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) alleged that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) workers sabotaged the voting process at several polling stations.
According to the report of Pakistani news portal Dawn, many videos of these incidents are going viral on social media. A video shows masked people entering polling stations in Karachi.
Mobile internet was shut down across Pakistan during voting. Now there is news of restoration of internet at some places.
As people are getting internet access they are sharing videos. These videos are being shared on social media and WhatsApp groups by Pakistanis living abroad.
Journalist Naimat Khan has also shared a similar video on his official X account.
The video shows Qadir Khan Mandokhail, PPP candidate from National Assembly (NA-242), kicking the door and entering the polling booth holding the ballot paper.
Surrounded by a group of supporters, Mandokhail went straight to a polling booth and threw the ballot boxes on the ground in the presence of police and polling officials.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said it has taken cognizance of the attack on the polling station. It also ordered the concerned returning officer to take immediate action against Mandokhail under Section 196 of the Election Act.
Under this section in Pakistan, crimes like attacking a polling station or booth, obstructing the voting process, snatching ballot boxes or papers and attempting to intimidate polling staff are punishable under the law.
In another video from Karachi shared by journalist Naimat Khan, the TLP and PPP also accused the MQM-P of rigging and fake voting in Karachi’s NA-232 and NA-246 constituencies.
In a video, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Hafiz Naimur Rehman has accused MQM-P of rigging in Baldiya Town.
Overall, there is an atmosphere of anarchy in Pakistan. Voting took place till 5 pm on Thursday but the ECP did not reveal which party was ahead till 3 pm on Friday.
Political parties complained about the delay and raised questions on the election authority, following which the ECP directed all provincial election commissioners and election officials to declare the results within half an hour and said that failing which they would face strict action. Will have to.
Earlier, election officials had stopped releasing the results to the media following PTI’s “clear victory” on most seats in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in jail and is banned from contesting elections. Khan, 71, of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party is contesting the elections as an independent candidate after the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission’s decision to deprive his party of its election symbol ‘cricket bat’. .
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, a total of 5,121 candidates are in the running for the National Assembly seats. These include 4,807 men, 312 women and two transgenders. There are 12,695 candidates in the fray for the four provincial assemblies, including 12,123 men, 570 women and two transgenders.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is also included in this election, who has been declared the prime ministerial candidate by the party.
Voting is held on 266 out of 336 National Assembly seats, but in Bajaur, voting on one seat was postponed after a candidate was killed in an attack.
Another 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for minorities and are allotted to the winning parties on the basis of proportional representation. To form a new government, any party will have to win 133 seats out of 265.