QUETTA: Ameer of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Balochistan, Senator Maulana Abdul Wasi, has strongly condemned the re-polling conducted in Kalat Johan, labeling it a “brazen drama in the name of democracy” and an “open robbery” of the public mandate.
Addressing the media following the polling process, Senator Wasi alleged that the elections were blatantly rigged under government patronage to distort the results against his party, which he claimed held a clear majority.
“This is not an electoral process,” Maulana Wasi asserted. “Once again, for the completion of the so-called ‘Serena Hotel project,’ blood was shed in broad daylight on the clear majority of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, and a blatant attempt was made to distort the results.”
He leveled serious accusations regarding the conduct of the polling, claiming a massive discrepancy in official records. “When the electoral process is made a regular market, and 48 copies out of 73 copies are completely disappeared, it will not be called an election but the worst fraud and a serious joke on democracy,” he stated.
The Senator highlighted a recurring pattern of alleged injustice in the province. “This tragedy has been repeated time and again in Balochistan: the people vote for one candidate, but in the results, another candidate is declared successful,” he said, adding that JUI is well aware of the “bitter reality” that their struggle for people’s rights is met with resistance.
Expanding his criticism to the broader political system, Maulana Wasi questioned the legitimacy of the process itself. He suggested that if results are to be decided in closed rooms, the “electoral drama” should be abandoned to save the national treasury and the people from humiliation.
“If this trend is to continue, it would be better to establish a permanent committee in Islamabad that would sit in closed rooms and decide on the names of specific individuals and hand power over to them,” he remarked sarcastically.
He warned that trampling on the public mandate and imposing an “artificial leadership” widens the gulf of trust between the state and its citizens. “History is witness that when the voice of the people is suppressed, the consequences are always dire and far-reaching,” he cautioned.
