'This is May 9 part two', says PML-N leader on Rawalpindi commissioner's allegations

LAHORE: As the country faces political upheaval after the February 8 elections,  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Malik Ahmad Khan on Sunday said that he feared another May 9-like incident may happen in Pakistan. 

Malik's comments came during a presser in Lahore today where he was flanked by PML-N leaders Azma Bukhari and Attaullah Tarar, a day after former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha sent shockwaves across the country when he admitted rigging under his watch and resigned from his post. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is among other parties which staged nationwide protests across the country on Saturday against the alleged rigging in the February 8 elections and its mandate being stolen by the PML-N. 

He claimed that the PTI was launching another hate campaign, as it did on May 9, against the district returning officers and their families after Chatha made claims of rigging in Rawalpindi. 

"Another May 9 will happen on Pakistan's structure. They [PTI] should be stopped or they will cause great damage to the state of Pakistan. There isn't an incident as horrific as May 9 in my memory," said Malik. 

Recalling the incident, the PML-N leader said that the Imran Khan-founded PTI conspired against the state and Pakistan Army, adding that they haven't learned any lesson from the May 9 incident. 

Malik said that a campaign is being run from PTI's accounts, adding that the propaganda is not being spread without any reason. "This is a continuation of the same conspiracy that we have been seeing before," he added. 

He said that PTI had started another "scary" campaign by uploading pictures of various DROs and their children on social media. "These people are not stopping their anarchic behaviour at all," he claimed.

"They are [now] threatening government employees," the PML-N leader said while calling on the caretaker prime minister and Punjab chief minister to play their role in this regard.

"This is a repetition of the May 9 [riots]," he warned.

Claiming that the pictures of the families of the district returning officers (DROs) are being used to fuel hatred, the politico called on Chatha to bring forward relevant evidence to support his allegations.

"This is a May 9 part two and a plan to create chaos in the country," he added.

Speaking about the elections and allegations levelled by the PTI, Malik said that the PTI has a history of not accepting its defeat. 

The politician further said that the former Rawalpindi commissioner has nothing to do with the electoral process and the election results. 

"The commissioner is neither a DRO (district returning officer) nor he holds any position in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)," said Malik, adding that the DRO and returning officer (RO) are under ECP. 

Malik said that the commissioner would have shown evidence if he had any. "He spoke without evidence.