Polls over — what legal options do dissenting parties have?

In this file photo, a voter casts her vote at a polling station during the general election in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 25, 2018. (ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA/REUTERS)

• Any person aggrieved by the final decision of the election tribunal can appeal to the Supreme Court within 30 days of the date of the decision
• An election tribunal is bound to decide on an election petition within 120 days of its filing

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) pulls into the lead in the election race, some of the country’s other political parties rejected Wednesday’s general elections results, alleging rigging and mismanagement.
Traditionally, the losing candidates and political parties in Pakistan tend to cry “foul” and many resort to exercising their legal right to challenge the results.
The dissenting candidates can file petitions with the election tribunals within 45 days of the publication in the official gazette of the name of the returned candidate, election and constitutional experts said.
“No election shall be called into question except by an election petition filed by a candidate for that election,” states the country’s Elections Act of 2017.
An election tribunal is bound to decide on an election petition within 120 days of its filing, but “we have seen in the past that this deadline is extended numerous times,” Kanwar Dilshad, former secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), told Arab News.
A petitioner is required to attach documentary evidence of any illegal or corrupt practice and a complete list of witnesses and their statements on affidavits to challenge the result of any constituency, Dilshad said.
“It is a long and arduous legal process to challenge the result of any constituency after the polls,” he added.
However, Dilshad said that “losing parties and candidates make statements of rigging in the polls but hardly produce any material evidence before the election tribunals.”
The ECP is bound to publish in the official gazette names of winners in the elections within 14 days from the date of the poll. It will then appoint as many election tribunals as necessary for swift disposal of election petitions.
“The political parties that have apparently lost the polls can challenge the results in election tribunals, but cannot stop formation of the government in any way,” Fayyaz Raja, an election expert who is in charge of an election cell at a private television channel, told Arab News.
Traditionally, losing candidates and political parties in Pakistan tend to level allegations of rigging for “face-saving and keep their voters mobilized till the next election,” he said.
“Any person aggrieved by the final decision of the election tribunal in respect of an election petition challenging election to an assembly or Senate may, within 30 days of the date of the decision, appeal to the Supreme Court,” according to the Elections Act 2017.
Unofficial results show former cricketer Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, leading the electoral race with a clear majority at the national level. All other political parties including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed ex-premier Nawaz Sharif have, however, rejected the results, alleging “massive rigging” in the polls.
“We will use all political and legal options for redressal of these glaring excesses. This is an outright rigging and results based on massive rigging will cause irreparable damage to the country,” Shehbaz Sharif, president of the PML-N, said late on Wednesday at a news conference in Lahore.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s constitution says that the National Assembly shall meet on the 21st day following the day on which a general election to the assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the president, to elect a speaker, deputy speaker and prime minister through a majority vote.