In one of the most contentious elections in recent memory, a newly-elected provincial parliamentarian in Pakistan was declared victorious. But, in a display of honesty and fairness, he gave up the seat to his opponent after discovering significant vote tampering had facilitated the win.
Mr. Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, from the mainstream Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, believed he had won Karachi’s provincial seat #129, after defeating independent candidate Saif Bari, backed by the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Election results showed Mr. Rehman earning more than 26,000 votes, but he later told Reuters that he discovered the tally for his opponent had been reduced, without explanation, from 31,000 to 11,000 after the voting machines were tabulated.
“Public opinion should be respected, let the winner win, let the loser lose, no one should get anything extra,” Rehman told Reuters on Wednesday.
“I will not accept it, the winner should be given the victory.”
Pakistan experienced a populist political shift during the election of Imran Khan, of the PTI party, to Prime Minister in 2018. His victory saw a loss of influence and control among the powerful military establishment and its preferred political party. Khan was later removed from office after a no-confidence vote, and then he was jailed on a variety of charges, leading to political instability, martial law in some cases, and censorship of the press.
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This year’s local and national elections in Pakistan were disputed before they began. Similar to what happened in the U.S., when then-President Trump declared the 2020 presidential election to be unfair and rigged even before the votes were cast, PTI members and supporters believed their opponents would do anything to prevent a PTI victory. Claims of voter suppression and fraud were leveled all over the country—but in Pakistan, unlike the U.S., there was factual evidence to prove the claims true, at least in one race.
Amid the chaos, Rehman remained just as a lighthouse—a beacon in the storm—reminding those with heated tempers that if you participate in the democratic process, you commit yourself to accepting the will of the people, to learning what they desire, and then to try again in 4 years.
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Despite the allegations—and at least some evidence—of votes being suppressed or thrown out, the upstart PTI stunned the country’s political establishment, winning the majority of seats in the parliament. Mr. Rehman’s honesty provided one of those victories.
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How refreshing to read about an ethical politician. This man might have set himself up for electoral victory next time, without vote rigging.