ISLAMABAD: As the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) hears numerous petitions challenging election results, primarily those of the National Assembly, it appears that the electoral body “might miss” the February 22 (today) deadline to post Forms 45, 46, and 47 on its website, as it is legally required to do, The News reported on Thursday.
Despite the ECP’s best efforts, a top ECP official said that it was unlikely the electoral body would meet the legal deadline, something it had previously failed to achieve for a variety of reasons.
According to the official, the electoral board is dealing with approximately 300 petitions, on the high courts’ rulings, addressing the mismatch between Forms 45 and 47, as well as the fact that numerous petitioners were holding forms 45 that were different from the ones that the respondents possessed.
The ECP is already under fire for allegedly failing to conduct elections fairly and transparently, and for the first time, a strong voice was raised in the Senate session a day earlier, demanding that the chief election commissioner be arrested and charged with high treason.
However, during the same meeting, a Balochistan member said that a presiding officer or a commissioner might rig elections and insisted on discussing who was behind it.
Section 95 (8) of the Elections Act 2017 requires returning officers (ROs) to deliver to the commission signed copies of the consolidated statement of the results of the count and final consolidated result, along with results of the count and the ballot paper account, as received from the presiding officers.
Similarly, Section 95(10) of the Act states that “on receipt of documents under sub-section (8), the commission shall, within fourteen days from the date of the poll, publish the documents on its website.”
Separately, the ECP’s probe team, led by ECP Member Sindh Nisar Ahmad Durrani, investigating the former Rawalpindi Division commissioner’s claims has concluded its work within the three-day deadline and will present its findings to the commission today.
“The committee was presented with testimony from District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs), as well as a transcript of the former Rawalpindi Commissioner’s news conference.
According to reports, the panel also discussed what options the electoral body could pursue in light of his allegations.
The committee noted that the DROs and ROs refuted the commissioner’s charges of rigging and outcome manipulation.
Meanwhile, the ECP issued a formal notification that the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has returned candidate Chaudhry Salik Hussain from NA-64, Gujarat III.
According to the announcement, Salik earned 100,379 votes, while his nearest competitor, the PTI-backed Qaisra Elahi, received 89,795 votes.
Separately, the ECP has postponed its decision on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Salman Akram Raja’s appeal challenging the purported modification in the election results of NA-128, Lahore.
