ELECTIONS results are generally a contentious affair in Pakistan. Although the first general election in 1970 is considered to have been relatively fair, there were many complaints about the high-handedness of the Awami League musclemen in what was then East Pakistan, while the Gen Yahya regime was accused of being supportive of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan’s faction of Muslim League.

The perception about the lack of fairness has been clear in each of the preceding 11 elections. The 12th general election held on Feb 8 is no exception. Even the PTI, which supported independent candidates and emerged as the largest single group (if not a party because of the denial of its election symbol), is protesting against the election results. The PTI and almost all other political parties are up in arms against what they see as the large-scale manipulation of poll results. Most complaints centre around the alleged discrepancies between the vote count transmitted by the presiding officers on Form-45 and the consolidation of the polling station results in Form 47 at the returning officers’ office to obtain the constituency result. These allegations are serious but not established yet.

Although polling was generally orderly except for isolated reports of assault on some polling stations and the delayed arrival of polling staff, all hell broke loose when none of the 859 returning officers was able to announce the provisional results of his respective constituency by the deadline of 2 am the following day, in accordance with Section 13(3) of the Elections Act, 2017. Around 3 am, various........

© Dawn