The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday released the final consolidated election results of 95 out of 246 union councils in Sindh’s Karachi division, where polling was held on Jan 15 for the post of chairman and vice chairman.
According to the initial results, PPP is leading with 51 union council seats followed by PTI which has won 21 seats. JI has won 19 seats whereas JUI, TLP and an independent candidate have a seat each to themselves for now.
The electoral body has said that the remaining results will be released by Monday evening, adding that this was “a complicated process and it takes time to prepare the result of one union council”.
On Jan 15, the second phase of the local government elections in Sindh was held in 16 districts of Sindh — East, West, South, Central, Korangi, Keamari, and Malir of the Karachi division; and Hyderabad, Dadu, Jamshoro, Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Sujawal, and Thatta of the Hyderabad division.
However, the polls came under a question mark on Sunday night when contesting parties — primarily the PTI and the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) — alleged that the results of the polls were deliberately being delayed in Karachi.
The PTI openly accused the PPP, provincial administration and the electoral body of wrongdoing, warning that any attempt to “change the results” after voting would lead to a strong reaction.
Jamaat-i-Islami had come up with the same reservations and allegations. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the party’s Karachi chief, held at a hurriedly called press conference in Karachi on Sunday night and warned of sieging the polling stations where he said results were deliberately being delayed “to manage things”.
In Hyderabad and rural districts of the province, the key contestant Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) — an umbrella of different political parties representing the opposition — rejected the electoral process and demanded “immediate intervention” of the state institutions. It also blamed the ECP for facilitating the ruling PPP in rigging and violation of the code of conduct.
On the other hand, the PPP accused the PTI of violating the rules and going beyond all set rules to sabotage the peaceful process, mainly in Karachi.
In a media statement issued by Sindh Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan today, the ECP said the results were being transferred to the offices of returning officers from all polling stations.
“Each union council (UC) consists of four wards and around 20 polling stations, and the final result of a UC remains incomplete if a result sheet of even one polling station is left,” the ECP said.
The provincial election commissioner informed that each RO had at least five UCs, which “is causing a delay in releasing the poll results”.
Chauhan said the results were being prepared on an excel sheet on computers, reminding critics that there was no result transmission system (RTS) in place during the local government elections.
It is pertinent to mention here that the RTS purportedly “malfunctioned” on the night of the 2018 general elections, prompting widespread rigging allegations. At the time, the ECP had to revert to the traditional method of counting votes in the absence of the transmission system.
In a media talk later today, Chauhan elaborated that each returning officer had five to six UCs to oversee, which in turn had 5 constituencies. This meant that if an RO had 5 UCs, they had 25 constituencies.
The ECP official highlighted that Forms 11 and 12 had to be prepared for each of those constituencies, terming the process “time-consuming” and involving “extensive labour”.
“The election commission is aware of its constitutional duties and is sincere in holding free, fair and transparent elections. We have left no stone unturned in this,” he asserted.
“God willing, the results of all 246 union committees of Karachi will be ready by today evening,” Chauhan vowed.