Battle for NA-122: Be wary of rigging, Imran tells supporters

PTI chief wants ECP to transport ballot boxes with army escort

LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has warned his party workers to be wary of rigging during the October 11 by-election in Lahore’s NA-122 constituency while demanding that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) transport ballot boxes in the presence of army officials.

“How to stop the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from rigging? That is the kind of training we are forced to give our workers,” said Imran in his address to thousands of party workers and supporters at Doongi Ground in the Samanabad area on Sunday.



Imran Khan’s over 30-minute speech was largely focused on what he termed ‘the ruling party’s plans’ to rig the upcoming by-election at NA-122, where his party and the PML-N are expected to have a tough contest.

transporting ballot boxes from the booth after polling, while also demanding that the same be done in the presence of army officials.

Flanked by the PTI’s central and provincial leadership – including Jehangir Khan Tareen, Naeemul Haque, Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, and the PTI’s contesting candidates at NA-122 and PP-147, Abdul Aleem Khan and Shoaib Siddiqi – the party’s chairman addressed a crowd that had been gathering since Sunday afternoon.

The PTI chief also took a swipe at the PML-N for having sought a stay order against the by-poll at NA-154 constituency in Lodhran. “When they sense defeat they seek a stay order,” he said, adding that “the PML-N should be named the ‘stay order league’.”

He also criticised the Punjab government for its investment on road infrastructure. Citing the recent report by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), he said the government was doing this investment at the cost of basic necessities.

The PTI chief said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had informed the Supreme Court that 180 graft cases, worth Rs2, 000 billion, were pending with it.



“There are as many as 12 cases pending against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with the NAB,” he claimed, adding Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah were also implicated in corruption cases.

Imran Khan asked as to how the NAB chief could lay his hands on the prime minister, who had himself selected him. “However, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [where the PTI is in power] the accountability process is transparent and even a sitting minister has been brought to justice,” Imran claimed.

Imran Khan also mocked at the PML-N failure to hold large political gatherings at Minar-e-Pakistan, where the PTI has successfully held its rallies. “What kind of democracy is this? People support the PTI on streets but the PML-N bags votes,” he said.

As the PTI’s provincial organiser Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar took the podium, chants of ‘Go Nawaz Go’ echoed in the Samanabad ground. “This election is not an ordinary election. If we win at NA-122, we will win across Pakistan,” said Sarwar as he addressed the crowd in Punjabi.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid also addressed the rally and warned the government that a massive political change was about to engulf the country. He also extended support for the PTI’s October 9 gathering, which is also scheduled to be held in Lahore.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2015.