HARIPUR: Security was beefed up quite a bit with barbed wire barriers being installed late on Sunday outside the Returning Officer (RO) office after the arrival of the by-election results for NA-18 Haripur.
Supporters of both PML-N and PTI gathered outside the RO office and thus the atmosphere was charged. After the release of Form-45 results, PML-N leaders and workers got to the place immediately, whereas a large number of PTI supporters also started gathering.
Pusa led by senior party figure Yousuf Ayub Khan marched towards the RO office, demanding transparency in the result compilation process. At the same time, Umar Ayub Khan is said to have ordered PTI workers from all over the district to come to the RO office.
The Deputy Commissioner Haripur, District Police Officer Haripur, and other security officials along with their troops reached the place and their additional forces were seen around the RO office.
Strict security measures are in place as the vote-counting process continues and the RO office is still entering Form-45 data into the RMS system.
PML-N’s Babar Nawaz takes lead in NA-18 Haripur by-election as RO Office continues data entry
The vote count in the NA-18 Haripur by-election is still going on as the Returning Officer (RO) office has received results from 345 polling stations, based on the unofficial results, on Sunday.
The PML-N candidate, Babar Nawaz Khan, is currently leading with 97,389 votes, according to the information available so far. An independent candidate, Sheharnaz Umar Ayub, who has been unofficially supported by the PTI supporters, is currently ranked second with 68,534 votes.
According to the RO office, the work of entering Form-45 results into the RMS (Result Management System) is still in progress. The final consolidated results will be released after the completion of data entry and verification.
NA-18 Haripur seat was left vacant earlier which resulted in a competitive by-election between major political contenders. The candidates’ supporters are checking the results very closely as the count is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced a major lead in the by-election of NA-18 Haripur district. However, Omar Ayub Khan, a party leader, accused the staff of the Returning Officer (RO) of trying to manipulate the results.
The PTI claims that the data in Form-45 from 519 out of 602 polling stations reveals that the candidate of their party is leading by a margin of around 25,000 votes. According to Omar Ayub Khan, the numbers from official Form-45 documents demonstrate unambiguously a huge PTI lead.
In his X (previously Twitter) post, Omar Ayub accused the RO office staff of “intentionally entering wrong figures in their computer system to change the final result.” He described the situation as “very alarming” and urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take action without delay.
Ayub insisted that the ECP should guarantee the transparency of the election through physically verifying each record along with the original Form-45 documents.
Furthermore, he pointed out that if there were any differences, they should be understood and sorted out before the results are consolidated.
Moreover, he reiterated PTI’s position that “the people’s will must be safeguarded at any cost” and the party “will not go back a step” until the correct vote tally is recognized.
