Rediff On The NeT: Conflicting turnout statistics question Pak polls' fairness

Conflicting turnout statistics question Pak polls' fairness

Sheikh Manzoor Ahmed in Islamabad

The polling percentage in Monday's National Assembly elections in Pakistan has become a contentious issue.

Varying figures issued by government leaders and officials have created confusion among poll observers and given a chance to political parties to question the fairness of the elections, in which the Pakistan Muslim League achieved a landslide victory.

While President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari has said that the polling percentage was 26, Law and Defence Minister Shahid Hamid claimed it was in the 25-30 per cent range.

However, Malcom Fraser, the former Australian prime minister and leader of the Commonwealth observers' delegation, stated at a press conference that the voting percentage was as low as 22, half of the polling reported in 1993 elections. But when results started pouring in, the voting percentage appeared to be as high as 35-40 per cent.

In fact the Pakistan People's Party, which was delivered a serious blow in the elections, alleged that they were manipulated. The PPP leader said that in many polling booths the number of votes counted were more than the votes polled. This has put a question mark on the fairness of the elections, the PPP leader said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has so far not made available any figure on the polling percentage.

UNI

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