Hafizabad district: Polls rigged in PML-N’s favour, says Chaudhry Sarwar

PTI leaders present audio recording, video clips about alleged rigging

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Punjab organiser Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Wednesday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take immediate action over alleged rigging in the local government elections held in Hafizabad district.

He was addressing a press conference along with PTI Punjab deputy organiser Omer Sarfraz Cheema and Mamoon Jaffar Tarar, the party’s Hafizabad UC-8 candidate.

Sarwar said that out of the 19 union council chairmen seats won by the PTI in Hafizabad district, nine were lost in recounts.

“All candidates should be present during a recount. However, in UC-8, the returning officer (RO) conducted the recount in the absence of the PTI candidate,” he said.

Sarwar said that the Tehreek-i-Insaf  was committed to participating in the third phase of the local government polls.

“We are convinced that they [the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] will resort to the same [rigging] in the third phase,” he said.

Cheema and Tarar presented audio and video recordings about the alleged rigging.

Cheema demanded that ECP take action against the returning officer. “He manipulated the result in favour of the PML-N candidate,” he said.

Cheema said that the video recordings showed Minister Saira Afzal Tarar at a polling station in Union Council-8 from where her father, Afzal Tarar, was contesting.

“The party has been demanding action against the returning officers who manipulated results during the 2013 elections. The same is being done during the ongoing local government elections,” Cheema said.

He said that the ECP Punjab should immediately take action against those involved in altering results through recounts.

“The requests by several candidates from Lahore for recounting of votes have not been accepted,” he said.

Tarar said that when he got Form 13 from the returning officer, it showed that he had won the election.

“Later, my rival was given another Form 13, declaring him the winner. Initially, the number of rejected votes was 141. However, after the recount, it increased to 714,” he said.

Tarar said that he had sent an application to the chief election commissioner requesting him to look into the matter on priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2015.