PTI foes demand fresh elections in K-P

New Pakhtunkhwa has come into being after a massive rigging in the polls, says ANP chief Asfandyar Wali

PESHAWAR:

The tripartite alliance in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday held a protest rally in Peshawar, reiterating their demand for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in the province to step down on the alleged charges of rigging in the recent local government (LG) polls.

They also suggested re-polling under the caretaker setup and supervision of the judiciary.

“New Pakhtunkhwa has come into being after a massive rigging in the polls,” said Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan while addressing a huge gathering in Khyber Bazaar, adding, “We have never seen such large-scale rigging and mismanagement in elections in the country’s history.”

Coming down hard on the PTI provincial government, he alleged that the tripartite alliance was told of the possibility of sabotage bid “for which we were not allowed to hold today’s public gathering”.

The ANP leader vowed to continue a series of protest against ‘rigging’. “We will organise more public meetings and will raise voice at all forums because people of the province have been deceived and the actual mandate stolen.” He criticised the K-P government for manhandling and arresting the workers of ANP, JUI-F and PPP just because they were exposing the government’s performance in the recent LG polls.

Speaking on the occasion Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman reiterated the charge that the PTI government had rigged the LG polls and offer for re-election was certainly a confession from the provincial government. “The PTI has ruined the sanctity of vote by planning massive rigging.”

“To bring a change in the country a party needs voters and supporters, not dollars.”

Pakistan Peoples Party general secretary Raja Pervez Ashraf backed the viewpoints of the alliance parties’ leaders. “The PTI has crossed all limits by bringing to life a closed chapter of taking political prisoners.” The KP government was on track towards autocracy and it was testing the limits of the PPP, he added.

“There is contradiction in Imran’s statements and what he is doing as a politician practically,” he said adding that earlier the PTI chairman was criticising the superior courts and election commission for rigging in the general elections but he himself failed in the K-P to hold LG polls fairly.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2015.