The election was rigged in my favour – Pakistan politician says as he gives up seat

A Pakistani politician, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, who won provincial elections in the commercial hub of Karachi, Pakistan, has given up his seat.

According to reports, Rehman said that of the national and provincial elections which held on February 8, 2024, the voting was rigged in his favour.

The polls were marred by accusations of rigging to defeat independent candidates backed by jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan, Reuters reports.

But the caretaker government and Pakistan’s election commission have rejected the allegations, noting that the country has laws and systems to investigate specific complaints.

Rehman of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party was declared the winner of provincial seat 129 in Karachi after securing more than 26,000 votes.

But the politician claims 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 stations 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.

“Public opinion should be respected, let the winner win, let the loser lose, no one should get anything extra. I will not accept it, the winner should be given the victory,” Rehman told Reuters.