Pakistan politician gives up seat, saying vote was rigged in his favor
A senior Pakistani politician who won provincial elections in the city of Karachi last week has given up his seat, saying the vote was rigged in his favor.
KARACHI, Pakistan — A senior Pakistani politician who won provincial elections in the commercial hub of Karachi last week has given up his seat, saying the vote was rigged in his favor.
Pakistan voted in national and provincial elections on Feb. 8, but the polls were marred by accusations of rigging to defeat independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The caretaker government and Pakistan’s election commission have rejected the allegations and said the country has laws and systems to investigate specific complaints.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party was declared winner of provincial seat 129 in Karachi after securing more than 26,000 votes.
But Rehman said he discovered that votes cast for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed independent candidate Saif Bari were reduced to 11,000 from 31,000 when records of votes polled at individual polling stations were tabulated.
Rating: 5