Pakistan Politician Gives Up Seat, Says Vote Was Rigged In His Favour — Reports

Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman

A Pakistani politician steps down, alleging that the results were manipulated to benefit him.

A senior Pakistani politician, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, who won provincial elections in the commercial hub of Karachi, Pakistan, has given up his seat, saying the vote was rigged in his favour.

Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, a well-known politician in Pakistan, resigned from office after winning provincial elections in Karachi, the country's commercial center, claiming that the results were manipulated to benefit him, according to reports.

Pakistan held national and local elections on February 8, but the results were tainted by allegations of vote-rigging against independent candidates supported by the imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.

The Pakistani election commission and caretaker government have denied the accusations, stating that the nation has mechanisms in place to look into individual complaints. After receiving more than 26,000 votes, Rehman of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party was proclaimed the victor of Karachi's provincial seat 129.

However, Rehman asserted to have found that after tabulating the votes cast at each polling station, the number of votes cast for Saif Bari, the independent candidate supported by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, dropped from 31,000 to 11,000 votes. After a falling out with the nation's formidable military, Khan was imprisoned on corruption and criminal charges. His PTI was also prohibited from running in elections, forcing its members to run as independents. Politics meddling is denied by the military.

“Public opinion should be respected, let the winner win, let the loser lose, no one should get anything extra,” Rehman stated on Wednesday. “I refuse to accept it; the victor ought to be declared the winner.” Saif Bari was unavailable for comment, and the PTI stated that it would take some time to get back to them. A request for comment from the election commission was not immediately answered.