The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has mandated a vote recount in the PP-269 Muzaffargarh constituency by May 17.
Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the petition of independent candidate Muhammad Iqbal, who claimed victory based on Form 45, which allegedly shows he secured the seat.
According to Form 47, Iqbal received 33,052 votes, placing second, while Mian Alamdar Abbas of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) received 34,588 votes. Iqbal had previously contested these results and requested a recount from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Iqbal stated that the ECP initially approved his recount request. However, PPP’s Alamdar Abbas resigned on March 20, circumventing the recount. Subsequently, Iqbal urged the court to suspend the upcoming by-election and direct the ECP to proceed with the recount.
The IHC agreed and ordered the votes to be recounted before May 17. The court also specified that if the recount confirms the original results, the by-election should proceed as planned.
Additionally, on May 2, the Election Tribunal at the IHC directed the ECP to produce all original Forms 45 and 46 for National Assembly three constituencies in Islamabad. The tribunal, led by Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, considered petitions from PTI-backed independents Aamir Mughal, Shoaib Shaheen, and Ali Bukhari.
