Notification to postpone elections in NA-83, NA-85 canceled

Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday canceled the notification of the Returning Officer (RO) postponing the elections in National Assembly constituencies NA-83 and NA-85 of Sargodha.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the case related to the postponement of elections in two constituencies of Sargodha, during which Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Zulfikar Bhatti said that he received notice from the RO that a candidate has died in the constituency.

Zulfiqar Bhatti said that the death certificate of the deceased candidate is dated January 15. However while investigation, it was learned that independent candidate Sadiq Ali died on January 2 and the funeral took place on January 3.

Secretary Union Council said that they issued the death certificate on the confirmation of the registrar and on the appeal of the deceased's son, while the registrar said that his signatures were forged.

The Chief Election Commissioner reprimanded the secretary of the Union Council for interfering during the hearing and said that at one place you do wrong and on the other hand you also present the argument to defend it.

Sikandar Sultan Raja stated that the general elections in both constituencies will be held on February 8, the election process should be continued.

Earlier, in light of the decision taken by RO and District Returning Officer (DRO), the Election Commission had postponed the elections in NA-83 and NA-85 due to the death of Sadiq Ali.

The statement released by the ECP said that the independent candidate Sadiq Ali died on January 15, therefore the election in both the constituencies has been postponed, the new date of the election will be announced later.

While, PML-N leader Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha filed an appeal in the Election Commission against the decision of the RO in which he said that independent candidate Sadiq Ali died on January 2 and his funeral prayer was offered on January 3. The news of his death on January 15 is not true, the fabricated news of Sadiq Ali's death is a conspiracy to postpone the election.

The ECP had also issued notices to the DRO, RO, Mosque Leader, security guard and local registrar (Patwari) on the request of the PML-N leader.