ISLAMABAD, 4 March 2008 — The Election Commission of Pakistan has given members who won seats in Parliament in the Feb. 18 election as independent candidates until the end of today to join a political party.
Once independent MPs join parties of their choice, the commission will announce the share of reserved seats of various political parties according to their representation in Parliament.
The Election Commission also prepared the list of those candidates who have won the election from more than one constituency. According to the list, Javed Hashmi of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) won from three constituencies: NA-55 Rawalpindi, NA-149 Multan and NA-123 Lahore.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali from the same party has won two seats — both from Rawalpindi — (NA-52 and NA-53). Anwar Saifullah from PML (Q) also won in two constituencies (NA-74 and NA-75), while Rana Tanweer Hussain bagged NA-131 and NA-132.
Others who won two seats are: Rana Abdul Sattar (NA-112 and PP-124), Chaudhry Pervez Elahi (NA-58 and PP-118), Malik Mohammad Abrar Khan (NA-54 and PP-10), Liaquat Abbas Bhatti (NA-103 and PP-107), Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi (NA-148 and PP-219), Pir Syed Fazal Ali Shah Jilani (NA-217 and PS-33), Makhdoom Amin Fahim (NA-218 and PS-44), Aftab Ahmed Sherpao (NA-8 and PF-20), Sardar Mehtab Khan (NA-17 and PF-45) and Abdul Akbar Khan (NA-11 and PF-29).
Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto’s niece yesterday accused Western media of irresponsibility in their reporting of Pakistan, saying they disregarded heavy rigging in last month’s elections — including by the Pakistan People’s Party. Fatima Bhutto, herself a journalist, said she witnessed widespread rigging when she visited polling stations in Sindh province during the elections, which saw President Pervez Musharraf’s backers heavily defeated.
“We turned on CNN and we turned on the BBC and we were told, Musharraf has lost, it’s a sign of democracy, he’s accepted defeat quite gracefully.... You’ve had elections, good job, you’ve done wonderfully, because the president hasn’t won.
“But in Pakistan, the situation looked quite different,” said Fatima in a speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong. “To say there was rigging in the Feb. 18 elections is an understatement.... It wasn’t just rigging, it was quite open, unapologetic rigging. It was no longer under the table, it was very much on top.”
— With input from agencies
