PTI provincial president Azam Swati. PHOTO: PPI
PESHAWAR:
Fearing a ‘repeat’ of May 11 rigging in local government (LG) elections to be held next month, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) provincial leadership has expressed deep concerns over the state of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
PTI provincial president Azam Swati accused the ECP of not preventing rigging in last year’s polling, adding that had the commission been an independent body, it would have at least investigated the matter.
Referring to the recent ‘35 punctures’ allegation of rigging on Twitter, Swati said that this would not have been possible if the commission was autonomous.
The tweet which turned into an intense television and social media debate, alleged that Najam Sethi called Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on election night and said “35 punctures” had been fixed.
“What else do you need as proof?” Swati posed to The Express Tribune on Tuesday.
He said his party had already pointed ECP to several constituencies but their requests to probe into the rigging were still pending.
Swati alleged that the commission was a joint venture of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was being used against PTI, adding PTI is being deprived of the seats it won during the general polls.
“In Mansehra, 93,000 new votes were polled, which is a 100% increase in the number of ballots cast in the 2008 general elections,” Swati said, implying that it was his party that attracted the new voters. The election commission was part of the conspiracy against PTI.
He said that even though the provincial government was geared for LG elections in April, they anticipated a delay because of the apex court’s direction regarding delimitation. Swati added the party wanted to use the biometric polling system, which verifies thumbprints, to ensure complete transparency.
“Unless the election commission became an autonomous body, polls cannot be held in a transparent manner, ultimately effecting democracy in the country,’ he said. PTI MNA Asad Umar said despite having knowledge of rigging in the past, his party was ready to hold polls next month.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2014.
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ECP SHOULD BRING IN ''ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM IN COUNTRY' ONCE AND FOR ALL.. PLEASE FOR GOD SAKE.. we are tired of rigging every other 5 years and fake leaders.. please.