Islamabad: Political analysts’s fears about the influence of foreign voters in Pakistan’s general elections 2018 have come true, as at least one candidate declared a winner from Quetta has been termed as “non-Pakistani.”
Ahmed Ali Kohzad contested the general election on Hazara Democratic Party’s (HDP) ticket and won the provincial assembly seat PB-26 (Quetta-III) with 5,117 votes, defeating Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Wali Muhammad. However, he has now been declared as a “non-Pakistani” by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Quetta.
DC Quetta made the revelation in a letter submitted to Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Thursday. The officials suspect the foreigner may be an Afghan national from the Hazara community, a minority ethnic group that mainly resides in Afghanistan.
The local news reports suggest that National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) blocked the alleged foreigner’s National Identity Card (CNIC) ahead of the elections on suspicion of him being an Afghan refugee, after which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had barred him to contest elections.
However, Kohzad was allowed to contest elections after he filed a petition against the ECP’s decision in court, that allowed him to take part in elections.
After Kohzad managed to win provincial seat in July 2018 elections, the Quetta DC representative submitted the report before the BHC division bench, comprising Justice Abdullah Baloch and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, which was hearing a constitutional petition of Kohzad against blockage of his identity card by NADRA.
The official report disclosed that the petitioner Kohzad had failed to prove his Pakistani nationality and provide any documentary evidence. The report also revealed that Kohzad is an “intruder in a Pakistani family” belonging to the Hazara community.
A committee has been formed to probe the case and the division benches adjourned the hearing of the petition till August 6.
