Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Shoaib Shaheen on Saturday challenged the election results of the NA-47 constituency in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Shaheen lost the election to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Shaheen expressed his concerns about “injustice and oppression against the PTI”. He said his nomination papers were unjustly taken away and added that the Returning Officers (ROs) were “expert in corruption”.
Shaheen stated, “They took away our bat [PTI’s electoral symbol].” He blamed the Supreme Court for the ongoing injustice and tyranny. The PTI-backed candidate asserted, “I had a lead of more than 50,000 votes, my opponents had a total of 40,000 votes polled.”
الحمدللہ میں اپنی سیٹ تقریباً 53 ہزار ووٹوں کی لیڈ سے جیت چکا تھا مگر DRO اور انتظامیہ نے دھاندلی اور بدیانتی کر کے میرا رزلٹ میرے مخالف کو دیے دیا ۔جو فام 45 کے مطابق 53 ہزار ووٹوں کی لیڈ سے مجھ سے ہار رہا تھا ۔عوام الیکشن کمیشن ۔ DRO اور انتظامیہ اس شرمناک حرکت کو کبھی تسلم… pic.twitter.com/L7JKiyHrQL
— Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen (@advshoaib66) February 9, 2024
The PTI candidate said he approached the DCO and the Election Commission by writing applications but received no response. He pointed out that every candidate was supposed to be given Form 45. In questioning the democratic process, he rhetorically asked, “If you don’t like someone, will you change their vote?”
“I wasn’t behind Tariq in any of the polling station results,” stated Shaheen, blaming the ECP for the “indecent” conduct of the election. He also mentioned his willingness to address any reservations against him with the RO.
“There was no need to spend billions. You should have just announced that the ladla (favourite) [PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif] is coming into power,” Shaheen stated.
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Accusing the authorities of “undermining the foundations” and “causing harm to the state”, Shaheen declared his intent to “protest and challenge the result”. “The people are being denied their basic rights,” he said, emphasising that “today’s war is not for power but for the survival of the people”.
Furthermore, he mentioned, “We had the complete results by 11 PM and we will go to the court to challenge this dishonesty”. He claimed that “there has been a change of over 50,000 votes”.