Chaudhry Nisar contested the 2013 elections from four seats. Out of these he was initially declared winner on two of these, PP-7 and NA-52, however his dream to become CM of Punjab will alas remain a dream as he lost PP-7, which he had won by 311 votes margin, to the PTI candidate on re-count. For me, Pakistan’s history is divided into periods that I and you remember by names or events that were significant during that time “Bhutto vs. Sharif”, “War on terror”, “Benazir’s assassination” and now after 11th May 2013 “Naya Pakistan”. In this Naya Pakistan having a vote re-count and getting the right result is not enough. We must make a demand for a judicial public inquiry as to how those remaining 311 votes made their way inside the ballot box. And we do not want this judicial “public” inquiry behind closed doors. As this is a matter of great public interest, an inquiry should also be public for all to see. (Google “Levenson inquiry” if you do not know how to conduct a judicial “public” inquiry.) Furthermore, let us not allege, at this stage, that Mr. Nisar had anything to do with those extra 311 votes, but I am sure even he will agree that re-counting should take place in NA-52 not only because it is in the interest of justice but it will also remove any doubt that PTI “trolls” might have that Mr. Nisar’s admirers rigged NA-52 in his favour. In fact I am sure that Mr. Nisar is writing an application to ECP at this very moment to demand a re-count on NA-52. Before I conclude my very first blog, I would also like to bring attention to the recent stay granted by the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench has granted stay in favour of the PMLN candidate. The reason given was that, “ECP must hear both parties before deciding whether to order a vote re-count.” Despite being familiar with the legal side of things, I am just going to apply logic here. PMLN won, PTI candidate lost but felt that the rigging took place. Now the PTI candidate must have provided evidence that may suggest that perhaps rigging did take place and the only way to fix this is to order a re-count. Now please tell me Honourable Judges, what will the PMLN say? If he has won fairly then no matter how many times they count, he will win so why ask for a stay against re-count? I must say my Honourable Judges that you are not being very Honourable. Now to finish off, let us assume that PMLN has matured over the years and does order a judicial public inquiry over these 311 votes (I highly doubt they will) and during the course of proceedings, it becomes clear that Mr. Nisar was his own admirer who engineered the rigging, will the ECP then disqualify him from all his seats, won fairly or not? Will we see him behind bars or contesting some by-election 6 months down the line? I cannot answer these questions but I can tell you this, the Youth of Naya Pakistan will not sit quietly anymore, we have learned the Art of Dharna!
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 15:39:14 +0000
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