Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan votes by postal ballot, wife Bushra Bibi misses out

Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khan and other prominent incarcerated political figures have cast their votes through postal ballot from jail according to a media report on Thursday However Bushra Bibi Khans wife was unable to participate in the voting as she was convicted and arrested after the completion of the postal voting process Dawn News reportedPolitical leaders who have managed to vote by mail included former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry the report quoted Adiala Jail sources as saying on WednesdayOverall fewer than 100 prisoners of Adiala Jail were able to vote constituting only about one per cent of the prisons 7000 inmatesSources said the jail administration allowed only those inmates to cast their votes who had valid computerised national identity cards CNICs and the reason for a low turnout was that an overwhelming majority of the prisoners did not have the original CNICThere are criminals dacoits thieves convicts in the heinous crimes and undertrial prisoners UTPs detained in the jail a senior official saidHe said most criminals did not carry the CNIC to avoid their identity while the identity cards of the UTPs were generally withheld by the police stationsThe official said the Adiala Jail administration received postal ballots from the Election Commission in midJanuary and the ballots were provided to the inmates The last date for submission was January 22However Asad Javed Warraich the jail superintendent extended the time after which the votes were transmitted to the district returning officers DROs of respective constituencies in sealed envelopesA senior official said that since some inmates were from farflung areas the exercise was completed at least a fortnight before the elections to ensure the delivery to the DROs before final countingJail sources said that former first lady Bushra Bibi also wanted to cast a vote through a postal ballot but her request could not be entertained since the process had been completed by the time she was detainedBushra Bibi 49 was imprisoned at Khans Bani Gala residence here after an accountability court last week sentenced the couple to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption caseMashal Yousafzai a spokesperson for Bushra Bibi confirmed that the spouse of the former prime minister had been denied casting the vote through a postal ballotMeanwhile as cashstrapped Pakistan goes to polls on Thursday the PTI has appealed to the public to remember the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI partys incarcerated founding chairman Imran Khan who it said was fighting the battle to restore the countrys dignity honour and sovereignty and ensure the welfare of its peopleIn a message PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan said Khan 71 had dedicated everything including his life to that causeAs citizens of the country we have a debt to pay We must use our vote to change the face of Pakistan by dismantling a rotten system that has cast a vicious stranglehold on the country and its people he said in a post on XKhans PTI party is leading the social media campaign for its candidates contesting as independents on multiple different symbols after the Supreme Court ruling stripped off its electoral symbol the iconic cricket bat in a case related to intraparty electionsCricketerturnedpolitician Khan who has been in jail since August last year has recently been given ten 14 and seven years imprisonment in cipher Toshakhana and Iddat his third unlawful marriage cases respectivelyMany other PTI leaders have been languishing in various jails across Pakistan following the May 9 attacks including on military installations across the country following Khans arrest in a corruption caseKhan and his party have alleged there is no level playing field in the ongoing election processThe PTI leader has also blamed the powerful military establishment for preventing him from riding back to powerThe election body has stripped his party of the iconic cricket bat as the election symbol rejected his nomination papers and those of other party leaders at least one of his party leaders is killed during pollingrelated violence and the latest a key candidate from Lahore indicted in a terrorism caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever