Imran seeks judicial probe into 'poll rigging'

Petition states judicial commission should comprise serving judges 'holding no bias towards anyone'

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday against the alleged irregularities in the Feb 8 general elections.

The petition filed by party founder Imran Khan and Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan made the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PML-N, PPP, and MQM-P respondents in the case.

The petition demanded the formation of a judicial commission comprising serving apex court judges "holding no bias towards anyone to inquire, audit and examine the manner and process of general elections of 8 February, 2024 and the developments that took place thereafter of compiling false and fraudulent results rendering winners into losers and losers into winners”.

“All consequential acts of the forming governments at the federal and Punjab levels be immediately suspended until the commission makes the probe public,” the PTI prayed.

The petition demanded that relief be granted in the "best interest of the nation, its electoral mandate, and Constitutional dispensation".

The elections were held after an inordinate delay and beyond the constitutionally mandated period of 90 days in the case of both the provincial and National Assembly as given in Article 223 of the Constitution, the petition said.

It added that the election results were manipulated and the ECP failed to hold free and fair polls.

The petitioners contended that the only way to bring stability and ensure political and economic justice in the country was to investigate and fix election irregularities.

It further maintained that the former ruling party was not allowed to undertake its election campaign as the party workers’ houses were raided, and nomination papers were ‘snatched’ along with ECP’s decision to take the ‘bat’ symbol from PTI.

The party maintained that there was abundant evidence in the form of video clips, media reports, and press statements by local and international media about the poll fraud, following which a judicial probe was demanded.

Read: PTI stage countrywide protests against poll ‘rigging’

‘Historic electoral heist’

Last month, the PTI dialled up its attacks against tampering with its purported mandate, alleging that a whopping 85 National Assembly seats, which it had secured in the Feb 8 polls, were surreptitiously "snatched away".

The party deemed the alleged electoral manipulation as the "largest assault on democracy" in the nation's political history while accusing the ECP of orchestrating a nefarious conspiracy to strip the newly elected PTI MNAs of their public mandate on "ridiculous technical grounds".

In its declaration after the meeting of its core people, the party pointed out that other major political parties were also voicing concerns about the chief election commissioner and the ECP’s alleged criminal role.

It alleged that with the blessings of the ECP, blatant disregard for the people's mandate, Constitution, and democracy took place.

The party also announced plans for "peaceful protests" across the nation, slamming the door on rumours of cozying up with the PPP in the big leagues and the PTI-P in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to form a coalition government.

US' tough stance sought

A few days after the elections, Imran demanded the US to adopt a tough stance on the “rigging”.

He also penned a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), urging the global lender to give the poll results a thorough once-over before cutting any new cheques for Islamabad.

The former prime minister warned that without substantial investment in the country, the burden of loans would continue to rise, underscoring the need for political stability.