By James Moses (9News Nigeria)
A Senior Pakistan politician, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, who won the Provincial elections in the commercial city hub of Karachi, Pakistan, has given up his seat, saying the vote was rigged in his favour.
Pakistan voted in National and Provincial elections on February 8, but the polls were marred by accusations of rigging to defeat independent candidates backed by jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Public opinion should should be respected, let the winner win, let the loser lose, no one should get anything extra”, Rehman told Reuters on Wednesday.
“I will not accept it, the winner should be given the victory”
Saif Bari could not be reached for comment and the PTI said it needed time to respond.
The Election Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jamaat -e-Islami Party was declared the winner of the Provincial seat 129 in Karachi after securing more than 26,000 votes.
But, Rehman said he discovered that votes cast for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) Party backed independent candidate Saif Bari were reduced to 11,000 from 31,000 when records of votes polled at individual polling station were tabulated.
Khan is in jail over corruption and criminal charges after he fell out with the country’s powerful military and his PTI was barred from contesting elections forcing members to stand as independents.The military denies meddling in politics.
-9News Nigeria.
