Imran Khan, former PM Pakistan.
Voting is going on to form a new government in Pakistan. Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has cast his vote through postal ballot. He has appealed to the voters to vote in large numbers. Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has missed voting. Let us inform that former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other jailed political leaders also cast their votes through postal ballots from jail on Thursday, as important general elections are going on in the country.
The former prime minister’s wife Bushra Bibi did not vote as she was convicted in a case and arrested after the postal voting process was completed, Dawn News reported. The report quoted Adiala Jail sources as saying on Wednesday that among the political leaders who managed to vote by mail were former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervez Elahi, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary is included.
Big leaders of Imran’s party are in jail
Most of the big leaders of his party including Imran Khan are in jail. Overall, less than 100 inmates of Adiala jail were able to vote, which was only one percent of the jail’s 7,000 inmates. Sources said the jail administration allowed only those prisoners to vote who had valid Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) and the reason for low turnout was that most of the prisoners did not have the original CNIC. “The jail houses criminals, dacoits, thieves, those convicted of heinous crimes and under trial prisoners (UTPs),” a senior officer said. Most criminals did not carry CNICs to avoid detection, while UTP identity cards were usually withheld by police stations.
Bushra could not vote for this reason
An official said the Adiala jail administration received the postal ballots from the Election Commission in mid-January and it was distributed to the inmates. The last date for submitting it after voting was January 22. However, Jail Superintendent Asad Javed Waraich later extended the time, after which the votes were sent in sealed envelopes to the District Returning Officers (DROs) of the respective constituencies. A senior official said that since some prisoners were from remote areas, the exercise was completed at least a fortnight before the elections to ensure delivery to DROs before the final count.
Jail sources said former first lady Bushra Bibi also wanted to cast her vote through postal ballot, but her request could not be considered as the process had been completed by the time she was taken into custody. Bushra Bibi, 49, was confined to Khan’s Bani Gala residence after an accountability court last week sentenced her to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case.
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