PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has decided to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for a vote recount on Peshawar’s mayoral seat after losing it to rivals JUI-F with a wide margin.
According to the unconfirmed and unofficial results, JUI-F’s Zubair Ali won the coveted seat by securing 63,388 votes while PTI’s Rizwan Bangash could only manage to bag 50,659 votes.
In a statement, PTI’s Peshawar chapter spokesperson Rahat Akbar Mughal said that the party will file an application for a vote recount, claiming that the number of rejected votes of PTI exceeded the victory margin of JUI-F candidate.
Rahat Akbar pointed out a viral video clip and alleged that the rival candidate poured Rs20 million into the elections to win the mayorship. “Those who lured villagers and neighbourhood councillors with money should be held accountable”, he added.
The PTI spokesperson further claimed that the polling process at women’s polling stations was deliberately slowed down and the polling staff was also offered bribes.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), which has ruled KP since 2013, faced a major setback in the local government elections held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) with the candidates of the opposition parties managing to defeat the ruling party nominees in most areas, including the provincial capital.
Moreover, unofficial results from the KP’s 30 tehsils show that JUI-F is leading with 13 seats, followed by PTI (6), PML-N (3), Awami National Party (3), Jamaat-i-Islami (1) and PPP (1), while independent candidates have secured three seats.
The local bodies elections were held for the first time after the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the province in 2017. The elections were held in 17 districts, comprising 64 tehsils, on a party-basis as per the ruling of the courts.
