Pak elections: No clear victor in sight as vote counting process nears completion
Islamabad (PTI): No clear victor has emerged from the divisive elections in Pakistan as the tardy vote-counting process neared completion on Saturday, indicating that the elusive political stability for the cash-strapped country may still be a distant dream.
The general elections were held on Thursday and the counting began soon after the polling ended at 5 pm with the hope that the majority of 265 contested seats would be available by Friday morning.
However, the announcement of results was delayed beyond normal, giving air to speculation about vote rigging.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, so far, the counting in 250 seats of the National Assembly has been completed and the independent candidates, a vast majority of them backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, were on the top with 99 seats.
The group was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 71 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 53, Muttahida Qaumi Movement with 17 and other seats going to smaller parties.
Though elected with the support of Khan's party, the independents can join any party, which is a potential source of instability, as they can also switch loyalties in future.
The PML-N's chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday evening announced that he was beginning consultations to form a kind of unity government but it may take several days before the shape of a future set-up comes up.
The PPP of former president Asif Ali Zardari already announced during elections that his young son and party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would be the candidate for the prime minister's post, whereas Sharif is keen to become the premier for the record fourth time.
The PTI leadership is going to begin internal consultations from Saturday to decide which party its supported elected representative should join.
They may join a smaller party which would become the largest party to counter Sharif's claim that PML-N was the largest and had the right to form the government.
It is believed that the situation would remain fluid for a few days until the independents decide their future.
But one thing is clear: the government would be a hotchpotch of various parties, which would put more strain on the country rather than providing a cohesive force to make difficult decisions in the cash-strapped nation.
Last year, the country narrowly averted a default when the International Monetary Fund provided a USD 3 billion short-term loan.
Economic experts believe that the new government would need an urgent new IMF programme on more stringent conditions.
The situation in the four provinces is more stable as PML-N is the largest party in Punjab with 131 seats out of 296 contested, the PPP in Sindh with 84 out of 130 seats and the independent swept the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 90 eats out of 113 contested seats.
In Balochistan, a coalition government is expected as PPP got 11 seats and PML-N followed with 9 out of a total of 51 contested seats.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
