RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Lahore High Court (LHC), Bahawalpur bench, has halted the ongoing election process of the Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RYKCCI) and directed the Director General of the Trade Organisations (DGTO) in Islamabad to resolve complaints within seven days.

The DGTO has summoned the complainants and the RYKCCI secretary for a hearing on Sept 24.

On Sept 14, during the RYKCCI elections, a group raised concerns with the election commission about alleged rigging, casting of fake votes and the breaking of ballot boxes.

Upon verification of the complaints, the election commission’s chairman and two other members declared the elections null and void and announced that the elections would be rescheduled with the submission of new nomination papers.

However, on Sept 15, members of the Friends Founder Alliance (FFA) allegedly convened an unconstitutional meeting of the executive committee in the presence of the police, dissolved the election commission and formed a new commission.

On Sept 16, the FFA resumed the halted polling process, while members of the Azad Ittehaad Group (AIG) were allegedly barred from entering the RYKCCI premises.

The new election commission then declared the FFA’s candidates winners.

AIG candidate Muhammad Aslam filed a writ petition in the LHC Bahawalpur bench that under the Trade Organisation Act, neither the election commission could be dissolved nor the incomplete election process resumed.

Justice Muzzamal Akhtar Shabbir ordered the suspension of the election process and instructed the DGTO to announce a final decision within seven days.

Haji Ibrahim, patron-in-chief of the FFA, told Dawn that his group had conducted the elections illegally and unlawfully on Sept 16. He admitted that some members of his group were involved in casting fake votes, breaking ballot boxes, rigging the polling process, and assaulting AIG candidates during the elections.

Ibrahim added that he would no longer support these actions and would soon announce his separation from the Founders Group.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024