Amid allegations of rigging and tampering with results by the opposition parties especially the PTI in terms of Forms 45, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday finally uploaded all the documents related to the February 8 polls to its website – well after the expiry of the deadline of making them public on 22nd of last month.
The electoral watchdog has uploaded Forms 45, 46, 48 and 49 of the National Assembly and the four provincial legislature’s constituencies.
However, the move has not been able to satisfy the PTI, which has described the Forms 45 uploaded by the ECP as “tampered” ones.
The PTI has been claiming that it was in possession of “original and signed Form-45s”, which were proof of massive “fraud” in the compilation” of election results.
Addressing a news conference following the announcement of the results last month, PTI leader Raoof Hasan said his party-backed candidates had been given only 92 seats in the NA against its estimate of 177.
He claimed that the PTI-backed candidates had been “fraudulently” deprived of 85 seats.
The PTI leader maintained that there were discrepancies between the Form 45 and Form 47, proving that rigging in the elections had taken place.
In response to the ECP displaying the electoral documents on its website, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh said the “tampered” forms uploaded were “not credible” and the whole world had seen how much “chaos” the commission had caused.
He added that for many days, a “drama was unfolding” with Forms 45 and Forms 47.
“We knew that according to Forms 45, we have won 183 constituencies.” The PTI leader regretted that after 26 days, the commission had uploaded “tampered” Forms 45 to its website.
Addressing a large crowd at the Karachi Press Club recently, Sheikh flanked by Khurram Sher Zaman and other PTI leaders, said their Form-45s were an “undeniable proof” of their victory as he blamed the returning officers (ROs) for changing them illegally.
The PTI leader said that the party’s electoral symbol -- the cricket bat -- was snatched from it.
He was referring to the Supreme Court's order that upheld the ECP's decision to strip the party of its electoral symbol.
"The party's candidates were then allotted strange symbols, and cellular and internet services were also shut down on the polling day, but even then the people came out in huge numbers and voted for the PTI," he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Zaman took a jibe at Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, saying that the PPP chairman only showed the Form 45 of his Larkana seat.
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