Imran Khan's party demands CEC's resignation over alleged poll rigging

Imran Khan's party demands CEC's resignation over alleged poll rigging

Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party on Tuesday reiterated its demand for Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja’s immediate resignation for failing to hold “free and fair” elections after allegations of massive poll rigging emerged.

The 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party demanded the CEC’s resignation, asserting that he had “no right to stay in the position for a single day,” the Dawn newspaper reported.

“After meeting Khan sahib today, the PTI demands that the CEC resign. He has no right to stay in the position for a single day,” Barrister Gohar Khan said outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where the PTI founder has been jailed.

Gohar Khan demanded the immediate resignation of the CEC, saying that he failed to hold elections in a free, fair and transparent manner, according to the report.

He also demanded that all the inquiries into poll discrepancies be impartial and without any interference.

“We want the election results to be in accordance with the mandate of the public,” Gohar Khan was quoted as saying in the report.

On Saturday, Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha, in a bombshell press conference, alleged that he oversaw the rigging to deprive Khan’s PTI party of 13 seats, which were given to candidates who were “losing” the elections in the city.

Chattha also claimed that Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and CEC Raja were involved in the alleged rigging and resigned from his office after “accepting responsibility” for the manipulation of poll results.

On Saturday, a PTI spokesperson demanded that CEC Raja and Chief Justice Isa tender their resignations following the revelations by Chattha. Buoyed by the allegations of vote rigging, the party on Sunday demanded a judicial probe into the manipulation of the results of the elections.

Asserting that the Election Commission of Pakistan (EP) failed to fulfil its responsibility “every step of the way”, Gohar Khan said that the Form 45s were the ECP’s responsibility and the returning officers were bound to announce results according to these documents.

Even after more than a week’s passage, the ECP has yet to notify the victory of most of the independent candidates who have won National Assembly (NA) seats in the general elections.

The delay on the part of the ECP to officially notify the results of a majority of the independent candidates has raised concerns among their voters and stakeholders amid political wrangling over the numbers game for the formation of government in the Centre.

Independent candidates – a majority backed by the PTI party – won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats that were contested in the February 8 election.

The PTI’s two main rivals appear on course to form a coalition government after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s PPP formed a post-poll alliance last week.

The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has also agreed to support them with their 17 seats.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly. PTI GRS AKJ GRS GRS