ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday rejected a plea filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) seeking recount of votes in PP-7 Rawalpindi-II.

PTI had lost PP-7 Rawalpindi-II seat to the PML-N by a razor-thin 49 vote margin. The decision was announced by a five-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja after hearing counsels of both the parties at length.

The ECP bench in its brief decision ruled that the petitioner (PTI candidate Shabbir Awan) could neither prove any fraud or irregularity during the polls, nor was he able to state the reasons for the recount. PML-N’s Raja Sagheer had won the by-polls on the provincial assembly seat PP-7 Rawalpindi-II with a margin of just 49 votes, defeating Shabbir Awan.

Just after announcement of the decision, PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood took to Twitter, and called the decision ‘against the law’. He said, “Loss of neutrality and integrity by the ECP has far reaching consequences for democracy”.