Haleem Sheikh being led away by police and (right) facilitation centres set up by different parties in Malir on Tuesday. Shakil Adil/Fahim Siddiqi/White Star
KARACHI: As the Malir police arrested Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh in an old case, polling for the PS-88 by-election was marred by allegations of vote rigging, violence and intimidation as all contesting parties traded charges against each other.
While the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for interference in the polling process and harassment of voters, not only the PTI but the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) also accused the PPP of using state machinery and police to “rig” the election and harass its opponents.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has already released the scheme for the by-election on PS-88. Photo courtesy Radio Pak/File
KARACHI: The electioneering for the by-election on the Sindh Assembly seat, PS-88 Malir, has almost come to an end and all arrangements have been finalised to hold the polling on Feb 16.
The constituency that mainly consists of city’s suburbs in Malir saw an aggressive election campaign from all political parties, especially the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
In 2018 elections Ghulam Murtaza Baloch of PPP had emerged victorious from the constituency by bagging more than 22,000 votes against Muhammad Rizwan Khan of the PTI who got 16,386 votes.