PTI demands judicial probe into electoral rigging following ex-commissioner's 'confession'
Pakistan
Ayub suggests CJP Isa, CEC Raja stay away from proceedings of judicial commission
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called for an investigation into alleged irregularities and alterations in electoral outcomes by a judicial commission.
During a press conference, PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub claimed that their party secured 180 seats across the country, but their majority in Punjab was minimised.
Citing the admission of rigging by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha on Saturday, Gohar demanded the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate his confession, asserting that the former commissioner spoke out according to his conscience.
Omar Ayub, PTI’s nominee for the position of prime minister, insisted that the judicial commission's report should be made public.
He stressed that individuals mentioned by the former commissioner should not be part of the investigation, further suggesting that Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja remain separate from the proceedings.
Ayub maintained that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s admission regarding the engineered no-confidence vote against the former PTI government, along with Liaquat Ali Chatta's confession regarding electoral malpractices, corroborated PTI’s stance.
Gohar clarified that the PTI was not demanding the resignation of CJP Qazi Faez Isa but was advocating for transparent investigations into “electoral rigging”.
He argued that while an attempt was made to exclude the PTI from the election process, the people voted for the party on Feb 8, granting it a majority.
However, Gohar alleged that PTI’s majority in Punjab was reduced, noting that Form 45 was not provided to the party’s polling agents.
Ayub pointed out that PTI’s seats were also reduced in Balochistan, with defeated candidates declared winners through electoral manipulation. He demanded that electoral results should be in adherence to Form 45.
According to Ayub, the only solution to the widespread uproar over electoral irregularities is to issue Form 47 based on Form 45.
He urged the ECP to release notification about the success of 180 independent candidates affiliated with the PTI.
The PTI, Ayub emphasised, aimed to form governments at the federal and provincial levels.
Ayub mentioned that despite the revocation of PTI’s electoral symbol, the “bat,” by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the party succeeded in the elections.
The PTI leader recalled that that every party worker was subjected to police surveillance with attempts made to intimidate the party leadership.
He claimed that the 18 seats in Karachi, which the PTI was winning, were dished out to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), demanding the PTI-backed candidates in Karachi be declared successful.
