KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday turned down Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) plea for re-polling in the entire constituency of NA-250 Karachi, issuing orders to the Chief Secretary Sindh and IG Sindh to ensure proper security on May 19 for 43 selected polling stations of the constituency.
The commission also asked for deployment of army personnel inside the polling booths.
The MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar had earlier demanded all polling stations of the NA-250 constituency in Karachi to be re-polled.
The remaining 142 polling stations of NA-250 experienced the same disorganization and chaos the 43 selected stations faced, Sattar told media shortly after the ECP confirmed its decision to conduct re-polling at 43 compromised polling stations.
He added that ballot boxes did not reach on time and in some cases, they never reached at all. It would be unfair to deny the same right to re-poll to all the voters in the constituency, Sattar said.
“It’s not about us, it’s about the disenfranchisement of voters”, he added.
PTI demands
Arif Alvi, candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) asked for re-polling across Karachi, while speaking to the media from the same place.
According to him, polling conducted in the city of Karachi was not free and fair and referred to video evidence of rigging aired on different television channels.
“Our stance is that, free and fair elections are key for the success of Pakistan”, he added.
