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Mohammad Shehzad in Islamabad
The Liberal Forum Pakistan, an independent organisation, has indicted the government for blatant rigging of the October 10 elections.
The forum had deployed around 60 observers for the polling in 30 national assembly and 28 provincial assembly constituencies in eleven cities -- Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Kasur, Peshawar, Swat, Haripur, Quetta, Pashin, Karachi, and Larkana.
In its report released on October 15, it said rigging was done to favour pro-government parties.
It said the polls were marred by mismanagement and poor administration. There were still several 'no-go areas' in Karachi, where there was no rule of law, it said.
In some rural areas, the district administration, especially the district nazims, influenced the election process by relocating several polling stations without prior notice.
Voting regulations were blatantly ignored in many areas, with voters carrying copies of their national identity card rather than the originals.
One constituency that saw such blatant disregard of voting regulations was that of Sardar Farooq Leghari, former president and the head of the Millat Party.
According to the organisation, duplicate votes were cast at some places and a majority of the polling agents were found to be inexperienced. Most of them were not aware of their rights and duties and were not present at the time of the counting to get a certified copy of the final results.
A few presiding officers were found influencing people's opinion. In Swat, an officer asked the voters to support the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal.
At numerous polling stations, the staff did not apply the indelible ink on the voters' thumb.
At some polling stations, it was not clear whether there would be a break for prayers.
Some ballot boxes could not be sealed after the polling was over. Complaints also pertained to missing copies of the ballot papers.
The polling staff were reluctant to give the final results, and at many places, failed to paste the results outside the polling stations.
In certain polling stations in Rawalpindi, there were three polling booths in one room. The classified area to mark the ballot paper too not designated.
Some polling stations were in the open, with no provisions for either chairs or tables for the polling staff. They were asked to 'build' a place for voters to stamp the ballot papers. They used the chairs that were provided by the candidates. The lack of electricity also hampered the process of counting.
In many constituencies, the list of voters was incomplete. Despite having identity cards, thousands of people could not caste their vote. In Quetta, voters complained about their names missing from the lists.
And to top it all, many voters did not know where to cast their vote. Too many polling stations had confused them.
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