LAHORE; Appearance of the video clip wherein some persons could be seen noting the details and giving away cash to the people standing in long queue has resulted in immediate action from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ordering the Lahore administration and National Database Regulatory Authority (NADRA) to conduct forensic investigation of the footage to confirm its authenticity and report in next two days.
The buying of votes is not something new to Pakistan. It did happened in the past but its perhaps for the first time that, as per the video clip , some political workers set a stage in open to queue up the people and pay them cash under oath to vote in favour of their candidate. Since the footage shows banners of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) in the background its an open ended case for ECP to probe and take action against the party and its candidate to set a healthy precedent for the future.
The ECP has issued a wriiten order for forensic imvestigation of the video in question which is encourging to purge the system of bad practices in electoral system.
The video show “people standing in long queues” and others noting their CNIC numbers. “Behind the scene discussions give an impression that voters’ credentials are being noted for buying their votes by paying them some amounts in cash,” the letter states, adding that some pictures and banners of contesting candidates can also be seen in the background.
In his letter to the Punjab IGP, RO Ali ordered police to carry out forensic analyses of the videos in order to ascertain their authenticity as well as their origin. The letter also directed the police to identify the people visible in the footage and arrest them, while also identifying the building where the activity was taking place.
In a separate letter to the NADRA chairman, the returning officer sought help in identifying the persons seen in the clips. Meanwhile, a letter addressed to the Lahore DC also directed the authorities to identify the individuals and the building seen in the footage in order to aid the ECP in its investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, Aslam Gill, Pakistan People Party (PPP) candidate for NA 133 Lahore, has said PMLN was always using such dirty means to win the elections but this time its such tricks will remain unsuccessful. He claimed on Sunday that PMLN has already accepted defeat in the election of NA 133.
