Imran Khan’s allies go to court, alleging fraud in uncertain Pakistan polls

Islamabad:

Amid upheaval in Pakistan over delayed election results, some reports suggest Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz candidate is leading or winning, with many filing court cases claiming their defeat was “rigged”, ARY News reported on Saturday result.

According to reports, more candidates may file high court lawsuits in the coming days alleging vote rigging.

Independent candidates affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also moved to the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the results of PP-164 and NA-118, Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza The father-son duo of Hamza Shehbaz scored triumphant victories in both courts.

Yousuf Mio, an independent candidate running against the PML-N for president, claimed in the petition that the Returning Officer (RO) did not allow the petitioners to enter the office.

“The results were declared in the absence of the petitioner,” the petition said and urged the court to direct the election officials to declare the results as per Form 45.

“The court also restrained the Election Commission from releasing the final results,” the petitioner said and requested the court to declare the Form 47 results invalid.

Meanwhile, Alia Hamza’s husband, whose wife contested against Hamza Shehbaz, has challenged the results, stating that under Form 45, PML -N candidate lost the election.

On the other hand, Dr Yasmin Rashid has also challenged former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s victory in Lahore’s NA-130 constituency in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Another independent candidate Shehzad Farooq questioned Maryam Nawaz’s victory in Lahore NA:119 while another PML-N candidate Ata Tarar’s victory in NA:127 was also challenged in court by PTI-backed independent candidate Zaheer Abbas Khokhar.

Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar petitions High Court for recount of Sialkot NA-71 constituency against PML-N veteran Kawa Khawaja Asif’s victory raised questions.

In Islamabad, PTI-backed candidates Shoaib Shaheen and Ali Bukhari also challenged the results of NA-47 and NA-48 constituencies respectively in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Talking to reporters, Shoaib Shaheen said: “We have requested the Registrar’s Office to schedule a hearing immediately. We have urged the Chief Justice to expedite the hearing of the case as everyone in Islamabad knows that NA-47 is my constituency. I have Form No. 45 .”We won this election with an absolute majority,” ARY News reported.

The PTI-backed independent candidate accused the powers-that-be of “pressuring the returning officers”, he said, adding, “Today, you are repeating the crimes you committed in the past. The only hope now is the judiciary.”

According to the results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry won with 102,502 votes, while PTI-backed independent candidate Shoaib Shaheen Shoaib Shaheen received 86,396 votes and independent candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar won with 17,916 votes.

PML-N and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) joint candidate Khurram Shahzad Nawaz won NA-48 (Islamabad-III) with 69,699 votes, Saeed Syed Mohammad Ali Bukhari came second with 59,851 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar came third with 18,572 votes.

PML-N swept all three seats in the National Assembly in the federal capital for the first time in 16 years.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)