Pakistan election losers claim widespread fraud

Losing parties in Pakistan’s general election are claiming widespread fraud, as former Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif tries to put together a coalition government.

Tony Cross/RFI

The election was a landslide for PML-N with provisional results on Monday giving the party as many as 130 seats – more than the previous leading government party, the People’s Party (PPP) won in 2008 but not enough to rule alone.

Meanwhile, some candidates are crying foul, especially several from cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Movement for Justice, PTI.

Hamid Zaman, a wealthy businessman who is new to politics, contested a seat in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, and lost to the incumbent, PML-N's Riaz Malik.

He claims to have video evidence of PML-N activists filling in ballot papers on behalf of his rival.

Zaman says his son, who was also a candidate, witnessed cases of fraud and his supporters have posted video on Facebook of one alleged case.

“In several places they caught people red-handed putting in votes, in at least two places” he says. “And the video’s showing the same on one of the stations. And then there were crowds of people inside who were telling people to vote.

Zaman told RFI on Sunday that he would file a complaint on Monday.

“Also I’m going to go to the Supreme Court against my opponent because, actually, he was not qualified to contest these elections. His degree is false, he never passed high school, so he was contesting on a fake degree.”

Zaman’s supporters on Sunday held a sit-in on a road in the constituency he fought on Sunday and pledged to do so every day until a re-run is announced.

PTI leader Imran Khan, still in hospital after an accident at an election rally, on Sunday said his party would produce a “white paper” detailing irregularities.

The PTI, which was hoping for a “tsunami”, is disappointed with the roughly 30 seats it is believed to have won and alleges fraud, particluarly in Punjab state, the PML-N’s bastion.

President Asif Ali Zardari’s PPP also says the results in Punjab were “manipulated”, although it is accused of irregularities in its strongest province, Sindh.

Sharif now faces the challenge of finding coalition partners but, if the latest estimations prove correct, that might not be too difficult.

Provisional results on Monday morning gave the PML-N 130 seats, just seven short of a majority in the National Assembly.

Although the PPP and PTI come next, they look set to have only about 30 seats each, followed by the secular, Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) at 17 and the Islamist Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) at 10.

And, no doubt to Sharif’s joy, there are about 27 independents, meaning that he could get his majority from them alone.

He may want to bring some other parties into the coalition, however, if only to keep them from making trouble in the opposition.

The PTI is sticking by its campaign pledge not to join a government with the established parties, including the PML-N.

Sharif formed governments with the religious parties in the past and, although JUI-F was in the PPP-led government, it is a natural ally for the right-wing PML-N, while the MQM, which was also in the last coalition, refused to campaign alongside the PPP, presumably in anticipation of its defeat.

Many Pakistanis are just happy that the election was peaceful and power is being handed over from on elected government to another without the military stepping in, as they have so often in Pakistan’s brief history.

“Whoever wins the election, it’s not a big deal,” said student Ishaan Batth, relaxing in a well-off Lahore neighbourhood on Sunday evening. “It’s about coming up as a nation and uniting people.”