ISLAMABAD: Almost all mainstream political parties have alleged rigging and pointed out irregularities in the May 11 elections, but it is the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) which has taken lead in formulating a ‘white paper’ on what the party called “engineered polls”.
The paper titled “Were Pakistan’s elections fair?” will be released by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at a news conference to be held after a meeting with a European Union delegation in Islamabad on Monday, according to the party’s spokesman, Jan Achakzai.
The ‘white paper’, a copy of which is with Dawn, has mentioned irregularities and mismanagement in the elections across the country, but it has focussed on the alleged rigging in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan has formed its government.
The paper contains copies of the letters written by Maulana Fazl to the Election Commission of Pakistan from time to time, pointing out “pre-poll rigging” and flaws in the election process. The JUI-F alleges that then KP governor Shaukatullah was given the task by President Asif Ali Zardari to damage the party’s vote bank in Fata and KP.
The party regrets that its demand for deployment of army personnel inside polling stations was not accepted. “Nearly 70,000 troops inside the polling stations would have saved the legitimacy of votes, not only in Fata and KP but also in Karachi, Balochistan and other parts of the country. It was a blunder that caused a colossal damage to the ideal of free and fair elections,” it says.
In the ‘white paper’, the JUI-F points out that turnout in some polling stations in Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat and Nowshera was between 80 and 270 per cent. Even in Dir area, where women voters had been barred from casting votes, the turnout stood at 80-120pc even though over 70pc of its male population has been living in Kashmir and other parts of the country.
The party alleges that boxes stuffed with its votes were found in drains and fields. “Never in our electoral history have we witnessed that a candidate is declared winner but after three days he ends up as third runner up,” the JUI-F says, referring to the elections in NA-10 and NA-11 constituencies of Mardan. “The overwhelming use of ‘two votes-per-minute machine’ in these areas has put a big question mark on the credibility of the poll results.”
The ‘white paper’ says: “Ironically, the PTI is furious in Karachi and wants re-polling on at least 12 seats won by the MQM, and also alleges rigging by the PML-N in Lahore, but conveniently forgets what has been done in KP to leverage them to a single largest position in the provincial assembly.”
The JUI-F alleges that some civil society organisations and media personnel were hand in glove with the establishment in its efforts to block the JUI-F’s march towards victory.
The party believes that there has been a clear divergence between it and other stakeholders, including the establishment, civil society organisations and a section of the media, on how to deal with militancy. The party believes in negotiations, but they term the JUI-F a Taliban’s party. “Some close to the establishment even dubbed the party Mullah Umar’s B-Team,” the ‘white paper’ says.
The ‘white paper’ also cites a letter written by the JUI-F to the Chief Election Commissioner after the elections informing him that polling staff had been intimidated and tied with ropes in several areas and polling stations were taken over by armed men. The ‘white paper’ authored by Jan Achakzai provides internet links of a number of newspaper clippings.