- Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry talks about electoral reform a day after NA-249 by-election in Karachi.
- PPP held whole system hostage for one seat, says Chaudhry.
- By-election in Karachi has further necessitated the need for reforms in the electoral system, says information minister.
The PPP held the whole system hostage for the sake of one seat, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Friday in a reference to the NA-249 by-election held in Karachi a day earlier.
He urged the opposition parties to consider Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposals for electoral reforms.
In his tweet, he said the by-election in Karachi has further necessitated the need for reforms in the electoral system.
The low voter turnout showed that the people are losing confidence in the election process.
The PPP secured victory in the NA-249 by-election held on Thursday in the city’s District West, with unofficial, provisional results showing a close contest between the PML-N and PPP in the final count.
PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhel bagged 16,156 votes to win the seat, followed by PML-N’s Miftah Ismail who secured 15,473, unofficial results from polling stations showed.
Both parties had claimed victory for their candidates mid-way into counting, capturing the attention of audiences awaiting results.
The PML-N pulled no punches in blaming the PPP for attempting to rig the result, saying they would not accept the result without challenging the Election Commission.
After the final count was announced, the PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz said the election had been “stolen” from her party.
“The Election Commission should have withheld the results of this controversial election,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ECP assured that all complaints will be heard in light of the law and if any evidence of irregularity is found, strict action will be taken.