A senior Pakistani politician who triumphed in the provincial elections for the commercial hub of Karachi, held last week has stepped down from his seat, on the grounds saying that the vote was rigged in his favour.
Pakistan nationals had voted in the national and provincial elections on February 8 but the polls were ruined by accusations of rigging to defeat independent candidates supportex by jailed ex-prime minister, Imran Khan.
The caretaker government and Pakistan’s election commission have dismissed the allegations, saying that the country had laws and systems to probe specific complaints.
Pakistan Politician Steps Down From Seat, Says Vote Was Manipulated in His Favour
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party was announced the winner of provincial seat 129 in Karachi after getting over 26,000 votes.
However, Rehman said that he discovered that votes cast for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed independent candidate Saif Bari were decreased from 31,000 to 11,000 when records of votes polled at individual polling stations were calculated.
Imran Khan is in jail over corruption and criminal charges after he fell out with the country’s powerful military force and his PTI was forbidden from contesting elections and compelling members to stand as independents. The military has however, denied meddling in politics.
Rehman was quoted to have told Reuters on Wednesday:
“Public opinion should be honoured, let the winner win, let the loser lose, no one should get anything extra. I will not accept it, the winner should be given the victory.”
