60 & 37 PAT candidates won in both phases of LG Polls

Addressing hurriedly called press conference, PAT leaders Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, Noorullah Siddiqui and Sajid Mahmood Bhatti said that PAT issued party tickets to 507 candidates in the first phase of local government elections, out of which 60 candidates were elected. They said that 370 candidates were issued party tickets in the second phase out of which 47 candidates won the elections including six chairmen, whereas 280 candidates enjoying PAT’s support succeeded in winning their seats. They said that electoral out of LG polls is not the proper measure to judge the sitting government’s popularity, adding that upcoming general elections will prick the balloon of fake popularity of the ruling party.

The PAT leaders severely condemned terrorist attack on the mobile of Rangers and expressed their deep sense of grief and sorrow on the martyrdom of the Ranger officials. Replying to questions of journalists, Khurram Nawaz Gandapur said that the government and Election Commission failed to maintain law and order in both phases of LG elections. He said that 15 people died and hundreds of brawls took place. He said that PAT candidate Faisal Gondal from UC-12 of Mandi Bahauddin won the election of the Chairman with the highest margin across Punjab. He said that government machinery and resources were put to maximum use to ensure victory of the government candidates. He said that the practice of wrongly printing the electoral symbols continued through the second phase as well; the opposition candidates were given faulty voters’ lists and ghost polling stations were set up. He said that ROs also tempered with the results.

Khurram Nawaz Gandapur said that PAT wrote letters to the ECP drawing its attention to instances of massive irregularities but no one took notice. He said that the ruling party committed pre-poll rigging by giving Rs. 20 million to each of its MNAs during the election campaign. He said that the PM’s public address at Dir on the polling day is part of the pre-poll rigging plan. He said that PAT became the part of electoral process after a gap of ten years, adding that we would recalibrate our strategy in the light of our recent experiences. He said that the party had authorized every district president to make seat adjustment with all political parties except the ruling party. He said that we are not disappointed at all, further stating that our struggle will continue unabated till change in the system.

The PAT Secretary General, replying to another question, said that the PML-N has very deep roots in the system. He said that civil administration and national resources remain at their beck and call. He said that success of the ruling party in the first two phases of local government elections does not mean that the people are satisfied with its performance. He said that the masses expressed dissatisfaction on various indicators such as terrorism, unemployment, law and order, price hike, and load-shedding, adding that the international surveys just indicated that.