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Judge throws out Cheetham election challenge

1/11/2002

A LEGAL bid to get the election of Manchester's deputy Labour leader declared null and void has been thrown out of court.

But the man behind the challenge, city Liberal Democrat chairman Qasim Afzal, says he will appeal in the hope of changing electoral law. Mr Afzal's complaint involved last May's council election in Cheetham where he stood for his party. After a ballot box arrived late at the count it was revealed that an election official had taken it to his home after the polls closed to finish off paper work.

After protests from Mr Afzal, Manchester deputy presiding elections officer Andrew Scallan admitted the official had made a "significant error of judgement" and revealed he had been reprimanded. There were 163 voted in the ballot box not enough to overturn the majority of the successful candidate, deputy Labour leader, Councillor Martin Pagel.

Four Cheetham Hill electors, advised by Mr Afzal, started a legal action but this was eventually "struck off" on a legal technicality by a high court judge.

Said Mr Pagel: "I never had any problem whatsoever with our campaign in Cheetham and I believe this legal action over the way the election was conducted was a smoke screen to take attention away from the racist way the Liberal Democrats ran their campaign, calling me, incorrectly a Jew, and advising people not to vote for me.

"In this legal case Mr Afzal has hidden behind four pensioners and has now made them vulnerable to a possible move by the council to recover costs from them."

But despite the legal set back Mr Afzal remains defiant. He said he could not have brought the case by himself through lack of funds and that the finance was raised in the community.

"I became the agent who acted as a go between four constituents and the legal team. Our case was struck off on a technicality but we have been given leave to appeal. I got the impression the judge wanted an appeal so we could challenge electoral law to make elections more open and transparent.

"I will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary," he said.