Islamabad [Pakistan], February 20 (ANI): The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is intensifying its call for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, holding him responsible for the alleged failure to ensure free, fair, and transparent general elections in 2024, ARY News reported. Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, representing PTI, conveyed the party’s demand after a meeting with party founder Imran Khan in Rawalpindi‘s Adiala jail, stating, “Incumbent CEC (Sikandar Sultan Raja) has now become a controversial personality as he failed to stop rigging in elections; PTI demands CEC Raja to resign immediately.”
Khan emphasised the necessity for impartial inquiries into election discrepancies, underscoring the party’s commitment to aligning election results with the public mandate. He also insisted on the issuance of election results in accordance with Form 45, responding to concerns raised by multiple political parties regarding discrepancies based on Form 47, as reported by ARY News.
Referring to the recent revelations by former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, who admitted involvement in rigging during the 2024 general elections, Khan argued that these disclosures supported PTI‘s claims of electoral irregularities. Khan expressed concerns about the potential impact of non-transparent elections on Pakistan’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Accusing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of failing in its responsibility, Khan called for an investigation into Liaquat Ali Chatha’s allegations and the conduct of the February 8 elections. He asserted that CEC Raja’s resignation would contribute to a non-controversial inquiry into the reported irregularities on February 8.
Liaquat Ali Chatha’s shocking admission of involvement in election rigging added another layer of controversy to the already disputed polls. Chatha implicated himself and accused the ECP and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of being involved in the alleged rigging, a claim denied by both the ECP and the Chief Justice.
In response to Chatha’s allegations, the ECP flatly rejected the accusations, stating that neither the ECP nor its officials instructed the Rawalpindi commissioner to alter election results. The ECP clarified that commissioners of any division do not have a direct role in conducting elections, as they are neither District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs), nor Presiding Officers (POs).
Following the press conference, Liaquat Ali Chatha was transferred, and Rawalpindi Development Authority DG Saif Anwar Jappa was assigned the additional charge, ARY News reported. (ANI)
Pakistan’s opposition leader decries election rigging, demands electoral body chief’s resignation
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 20 (ANI): Pakistan opposition party leaders on Tuesday decried the alleged rigging in the February 8 elections and criticized Pakistan’s Chief Election Commission (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for his “failure” to ensure transparency in the polls, Geo News reported. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed demanded that CEC Raja step down from his position over the failure to hold transparent polls on February 8.
The JI senator, while addressing a Senate session in Islamabad today, said that the elections were fake and they would procreate a fake government. Geo News reported that the senator said the electoral body committed treason for which it should seek an apology from the nation. “A legal proceeding should be carried out against the CEC under Article 6 of the constitution, for the ECP was given PKR 50 billion from the national exchequer but it failed to hold transparent polls,” he alleged.
The money wasted in the name of elections should be returned and a case should be lodged against CEC Raja, the JI senator said, demanding the formation of an autonomous judicial commission at the Supreme Court’s level. The judicial commission should investigate the matter of Form 45, he maintained. The senator also rebuked the authorities over the suspension of social media platform, X, saying that it inflicted economic and educational damage as well as it was tantamount to robbing people’s rights. He demanded the restoration of all the social media platforms avoiding placing restrictions on them.
The social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, remains intermittently down in Pakistan after it was restored on Monday after an over 36-hour blockade since Saturday (February 17), Geo News reported.
Ahmed said those embroiled in rigging were playing with the national integrity. Suspension of internet services established that the polls were not transparent, he said adding, that the authorities were scared after allowing rigging, therefore social media platforms were shut down. “To some extent, the Rawalpindi commissioner relayed details about the irregularities in elections. When JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman announced to hold a protest, you made him win from a constituency where he was the runner-up,” he said.
Taking the floor, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Irfan Siddiqui, while addressing the PTI members, questioned why the former ruling party is unwilling to extend an olive branch to other political parties when they are reaching out to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Emir Fazlur Rehman over the issue of alleged rigging in the polls.
“This is the same election commissioner who conducted polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)”, Siddiqui said while calling out the PTI for its contradictory stance on election results in the said province and other places.
On the issue of the formation of the future government, the PML-N stalwart underscored that neither his party nor the PTI or the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have the required seats and that the future government will be formed via a coalition. Commenting on the role of returning officers (ROs) in polls, PTI Senator Waleed Iqbal said that the lawmakers “should go home” in the wake of the non-implementation of the laws promulgated by the parliament.
“The chief election commissioner (CEC) didn’t even [bothered to] brief the media [on the February 8 polls,” the senator lamented while demanding the commission to respond to election rigging allegations.
On the issue of internet disruptions, the PTI leader questioned why the internet services were shut down during the night despite the polling process being culminated during the daytime.
During the debate, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party’s (PkMAP) Senator Shafiq Tareen called for an investigation into the alleged billions of Pakistani rupees taken by the returning officers (ROs) from candidates in bribes. “[Authorities] should probe the [alleged] PKR 50 to 60 billion taken in bribes,” the lawmaker stressed. “People’s mandate was stolen [as] ROs took tens of millions in bribes from losing candidates [to change the results],” Tareen claimed while lamenting that the candidate who had withdrawn in favour of Mahmood Khan Achakzai was “made to win”. (ANI)
