CEC urged to apologise to nation

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh has called for the chief electioncCommissioner (CEC) to tender an apology to the nation or face consequences under Article 6 for his alleged role in rigging the Feb 8 general election.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi on Sunday, accompanied by PTI Sindh General Secretary Advocate Ali Palh and others, Sheikh criticised the CEC for failing to conduct timely and transparent elections, alleging contempt of the people's mandate.

Sheikh revealed a recent presentation in Islamabad highlighted how 80 seats, won by PTI-backed Independent candidates as per Form 45, were allegedly manipulated by changing Form 47. He claimed that this manipulation was exposed by the commissioner Rawalpindi who made a damning revelation on Saturday.

Sheikh, who was released last week after spending 171 days in jail, emphasised the challenges he faced and drew a comparison to Indian spy Kalbhushan Yadav's situation. He declared victory for the nation and the Kaptaan on February 8, asserting possession of all Form 45s from Karachi, including those from his constituency NA-238.

Addressing the media's role, Sheikh accused the PML-N of lacking confidence in the media. He claimed PTI's success in winning 20 out of 22 NA seats in Karachi and two out of three NA seats in Hyderabad, demanding the release of true results based on Form 45s.

Read: PTI leader demands judicial inquiry against CEC

Sheikh provided specific examples of alleged discrepancies, citing instances where PTI candidates appeared to have lost despite significant voter support. He called for the return of seats allegedly snatched from the PTI.

Advocate Ali Palh echoed Sheikh's sentiments, claiming that PTI's votes were robbed, workers attacked, and their mandate snatched.

Palh expressed readiness for Form 45 verification, suggested the chief justice could intervene, and demanded the return of allegedly stolen seats to the PTI.

During the press conference, former MPA Jamal Siddiqui, former MNA Aftab Jahangir, and various PTI candidates were also present.

Sharing details, Haleem said, "We have all Form 45s of Karachi and all this data is put on the Internet."

The PTI leader said PTI gave the media Form 45s from each and every polling stations, but PML-N showed lack of confidence in the media.

Haleem said from 22 NA seats of Karachi, we won 20 seats and from three NA seats of Hyderabad we won two. He said we won 40 PA seats from Karachi. He said seats of GDA were stolen from interior Sindh. He said Jamaat-e-Islami also won some seats from Karachi. He said Hafiz Naeem showed moral courage by fortifying his seat. He asked Pir Pagara to come out like Soriah Badshah had come out against the British rulers. He demanded to release true results as per Form 45s.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th 2024.