Karachi by-polls: MQMs candidate emerges victorious

According to unofficial results, Muttahida Quami Movements (MQM’s) candidate for the vacant seat of PS-94 Saif-Ud-Din Khalid has emerged victorious, grabbing 91752 votes from the constituency.
The said seat had fallen vacant after the murder of Raza Haider of MQM, while ANP boycotted the polls.
Some 1,022 rangers and 2,015 police personnel have been deployed in the constituency, where 12 polling stations were declared highly sensitive.
Rangers officials on Saturday said that terrorists could disturb by-elections at PS-94 with suicide attack/s and firing. Sachal Rangers Commander Brigadier Waseem Ayub along with DIG West Zone Sultan Khawaja said during a press conference on Saturday that there was a threat of a suicide attack and firing during the by-polls. Therefore, he added, section 144 is still imposed in the area. Sultan Khawaja said that ten suspected men have been held. He also said that law enforcement agencies will hold a search operation in the area before the polling starts.

Karachi: Polling ends for PS-94, vote count begins

Polling has ended for by-election in PS-94 in Organi Town amid tight security measures.
The said seat had fallen vacant after the murder of Raza Haider of MQM, while ANP boycotted the polls.
Some 1,022 rangers and 2,015 police personnel have been deployed in the constituency, where 12 polling stations were declared highly sensitive.
Rangers officials on Saturday said that terrorists could disturb by-elections at PS-94 with suicide attack/s and firing. Sachal Rangers Commander Brigadier Waseem Ayub along with DIG West Zone Sultan Khawaja said during a press conference on Saturday that there was a threat of a suicide attack and firing during the by-polls. Therefore, he added, section 144 is still imposed in the area. Sultan Khawaja said that ten suspected men have been held. He also said that law enforcement agencies will hold a search operation in the area before the polling starts.

Karachi: Polling on for PS-94

Polling is underway for by-election in PS-94 in Organi Town amid tight security measures.
The said seat has fallen vacant after the murder of Raza Haider of MQM, while ANP has boycotted the polls.
Some 1,022 rangers and 2,015 police personnel have been deployed in the constituency, where 12 polling stations were declared highly sensitive.
Rangers officials on Saturday said that terrorists could disturb by-elections at PS-94 with suicide attack/s and firing. Sachal Rangers Commandant Brigadier Waseem Ayub along with DIG West Zone Sultan Khwaja said during a press conference on Saturday that there is a threat of a suicide attack and firing during the by-polls. Therefore, he added, Article 144 has been imposed in the area. Sultan Khwaja said that ten suspected men have been held. He also said that law enforcement agencies will hold a search operation in the area before the polling starts.

Terror threat looms over Karachi by-poll

Staff Report

KARACHI: Everyone is set for a by-election on Sindh’s Assembly seat (PS-94) in Orangi Town amid fears of terror attacks.

The seat fell vacant after the murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider on August 2, 2010 in Jamia Masjid, Nazimabad, where he had gone to attend the funeral of a friend’s mother.

Riaz Gul of ANP, MQM’s Saifuddin Khalid and two independent candidates are contesting for this seat.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have warned of suicide and gun attacks during the polling.

Addressing a press conference, Sachal Rangers Commandant Brig. Ayub sad DIG South Zone Sultan Khwaja confirmed a threat of suicide attacks and firing.

They said that Section 144 has been imposed in the city as part of security measures.

Around 1,000 rangers and 2,000 police personnel would be deployed at polling stations to prevent

Election Commission postpones PS-94 by-poll

Staff Report

KARACHI: Election Commission on Monday postponed the by-election of provincial assembly seat PS-94, scheduled for September 22.

According to a new schedule, the polling will be held on October 17.

PS-94 by-polls were scheduled for September 22. However, after the death of MQM leader Dr. Imran Farooq, Sindh government requested the Election Commission to postpone the by-election.

According to sources, the delay in by-poll was decided in a high official meeting of the Election Commission.

PS-94 by-poll is now scheduled for October 17.

The PS-94 seat has been lying vacant since the assassination of MQM’s Raza Haider, while the main contest would be between MQM and Awami National Party. SAMAA

Independent Kahloon wins Gujrat bye-election

SARGODHA: An independent candidate, Ejaz Ahmed Kahloon, has defeated PML-N candidate Tabraiz Gill in bye-election in PP-32 of Gujrat, Geo News reported Monday according to unofficial results.

Kahloon secured 15,967 votes, while Tabraiz secured 14687 votes. Section 144 was imposed in the polling area.

Over 1000 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order during polling day, as some of the polling stations were declared sensitive.

After securing win Kahloon claimed to have win over fake degree holders.

The seat fell vacant after MPA Chaudhry Rizwan Gul of PML-N was declared ineligible over fake degree.

Malik succeeds to switch off target killing

KARACHI: Interior Minister, Rehman Malik again succeeded to switch off target killings in the mega city following fixing the responsibility of the target killing incidents over banned Tehreek Taliban Pakistan.

Following negotiations with ANP leadership in Mardan House and MQM in Nine-Zero, Rehman Malik fixed the responsibility of target killings on banned TTP and suddenly incidents of target killings stopped in the city.

Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah on the other day said that they would carry out judicial inquiry of target killing incidents, as 686 persons became victim of it since January 1st 2010, while some 40 persons were killed within five days in various incidents.

On the other side, police sources said that 241 cases of target killings were registered in all three zones of Karachi, among which 207 were registered against unknown persons while 24 cases nominated workers of political parties including PPP, ANP, MQM and MQM Haqeeqi and some paid killers group.

Police said that some 11 assassins were apprehended in connection with the target killing including Sultan Kapal, Nasir Commando, Tahir Topchi, (MQM), Majid Kashmiri (ANP), Hamid Pia, Aslam Zafar, (MQM) and some belonged to paid killers.

Voting begins Sargodha PP-34 by-polls

SARGODHA: The voting begins in by-elections in Sargodha constituency of PP-34, Geo News reported Monday.

It has been declared banned to brandish weapons, as most of the polling stations have been held as sensitive.

It should be mentioned here that the seat vacated as MPA Chaudhry Rizwan Gul of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) was rendered ineligible by the court after his degree was proved fake. Later on, the Election Commission announced to hold by polls in his constituency.

There are at least 112 polling stations with 350 polling booths; while, presiding officers have been deputed with additional powers of a magistrate, under which they are authorized to send behind bars those who try to cast fake votes.

Election Commission handed ballot boxes and ballot papers to polling staff with over 1000 police personnel deployed in view of law and order situation in the city.

Polling stations have been classified in A, B and C categories with 16 fall in A and B categories and 80 polling stations are declared sensitive in C category.

Pak-India for joint efforts toward trust building

ISLAMABAD: Top Indian and Pakistani diplomats pledged Thursday to strive for sustained dialogue to get the nations” fragile relations back on track and deny militants space to derail the reconciliation process.

Indian foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir held one-on-one talks and met with their teams to craft the agenda for a meeting of their ministers on July 15.

“Pakistan and India should work towards restoring confidence and building trust with a view to making it possible to have a comprehensive, sustained and meaningful dialogue,” Bashir told a joint news conference with Rao.

“After this engagement, I feel much more optimistic about a good outcome at the ministerial level and good prospects for the two countries in terms of our relationship,” he said.

Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said India had raised concerns about terrorism and said the countries had to work together to deny militants the opportunity to sabotage their dialogue.

“We should jointly work together towards our goal of resolution of outstanding issues and also to dealing with the dangers, with the threat, with the evils of terrorism,” she said.

“We must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improvement of relations between our two countries.

“We owe it to our people to chart a way forward, to narrow differences and ensure collaborative engagement.”

Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers S.M. Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 — the third major contact in six months between countries that have fought three wars in 60 years.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have started a tentative reconciliation process since relations crashed to a new low after Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead in November 2008.

India and the United States blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group based in Pakistan and linked to the Pakistani spy service.

New Delhi suspended a four-year peace process and demanded that Islamabad bring to justice the perpetrators of what is considered India”s September 11.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has charged seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks, including alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged LeT operative Zarar Shah, but Pakistan has said it needs more evidence.

The Indian and Pakistani prime ministers met in April on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bhutan, which set in motion a process to revive suspended contacts at various levels of government.

Thursday”s meeting was the first meeting in Islamabad between the foreign secretaries since May 2008.

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram is due to arrive in Islamabad for a meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on Thursday. He is expected to meet Pakistan”s Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Poling ends, vote count continues in PP-160

LAHORE: Vote count continued after the polling in Lahore constituency of PP-160 ended under stringent security, as the candidates of opposition parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami blamed administration for pressurizing voters to support ruling PML-N”s candidate, Geo News reported Thursday.

On some points in the constituency, the polling was halted for a little while on reports of fake votes. Activists of PML-N and PTI get involved in a fistfight outside Shadi Wall poling station, which forced police for baton charge.

Later, PTI activists protested in front of the polling station and burnt PML-N flags.

The results received till filling of this report PML-N candidate Malik Saiful Maluk was leading.

PML-N candidate Rana Mubashir had to quit on fake degree of graduation. Polling started at 8am and continued till 5pm.

There are at least seven independent candidates besides Malik Saiful Maluk of PML-N, Malik Jahangir Hussain Bara of Jamaat-e-Islami and the PTI”s Malik Zaheer Abbas.

The PPP did not field its candidate vis-à-vis PML-N”s candidate under an agreement of Charter of Democracy.

Also, some people have been nabbed from a polling station for casting fake votes.

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