Pak: PTI-backed Independents move courts alleging rigged poll counts

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 11 : Amid the upheavel in Pakistan over delayed election results, with some reports putting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidates in the lead or winning, many moved courts alleging that their defeat was a result of 'rigging,' ARY news reported on Saturday.
According to the report, several more candidates could be moving high courts over the next few days alleging that the votes were rigged.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-affiliated Independent candidates, too, moved to the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging the results of the PP-164 and NA-118, where father-son duo Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz secured victory.
In his petition, Independent candidate Yousuf Mio, who contested against the PML-N president, claimed that the returning officer (RO) did not allow the petitioner to enter the office.
"The results were announced in the petitioner's absence," stated the application, urging the court to direct the returning officer to announce the results as per Form 45.
"The court also bars the Election Commission from issuing the final result," the petitioner said, requesting the court to declare Form-47 results' null and void.
Meanwhile, Alia Hamza's husband, whose wife contested against Hamza Shehbaz, challenged the result and noted that the PML-N candidate lost the election as per Form-45, ARY News reported.
On the other hand, Dr Yasmeen Rashid also challenged former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's victory in Lahore's NA-130 constituency in Lahore High Court (LHC).
Another Independent candidate, Shehzad Farooq, challenged Maryam Nawaz's win from Lahore's NA:119 while another PML-N candidate Ata Tarar's win from NA:127 was also been challenged in court by PTI-supported Independent candidate Zaheer Abbas Khokhar.
Rehana Dar, mother of Usman Dar, petitioned the high court for recounting of votes in Sialkot's NA-71, challenging the win for PML-N veteran Khawaja Asif in the Sialkot constituency.
In Islamabad, PTI-backed candidates Shoaib Shaheen and Ali Bukhari also challenged the results of constituencies NA-47 and NA-48 respectively, in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Talking to journalists, Shoaib Shaheen said, "We have requested the registrar's office to schedule an immediate hearing. We urge the chief justice to expedite the case since all of Islamabad knows that NA-47 is my constituency. I have the Form-45. We have won this election with a significant majority," ARY News reported.
The PTI-backed Independent candidate blamed the powers that be for "pressuring the returning officers", he said, adding, "Today, you are replaying the crime you committed in the past. Now the only hope left is the judiciary."
According to the results announced by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was declared victorious after scoring 102,502 votes while PTI-backed independent candidate Shoaib Shaheen got 86,396 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, an independent candidate, secured 17,916 votes.
Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, a joint candidate of the PML-N and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), won NA-48 (Islamabad-III) with 69,699 votes while Syed Mohammad Ali Bukhari stood second with 59,851 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar third with 18,572 votes.
The PML-N made a clean sweep after 16 years by grabbing all three seats of the National Assembly in the federal capital.