On Imran Khan’s directives, PTI urges ECP chief to stand down over February 8 election ‘rigging’

Jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has blamed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja for alleged rigging and irregularities in the February 8 polls, asking him to step down from his post "immediately".

“In light of Khan sahib’s directives, PTI demands him [CEC Raja] to step down immediately,” PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told journalists after meeting the party’s founder in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday.

The PTI, along with other major parties, has decried the election results, alleging systematic rigging in the February 8 elections — the biggest polls that the country staged in its more than seven-decade history.

The top PTI leader also demanded that the polling authorities issue election results in line with Form 45 — as several parties claim that there were discrepancies in the results based on Form 47.

Emphasising the significance of transparent and fair elections, Barrister Gohar said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has failed to fulfil its responsibility.

Gohar noted that the former ruling party has always urged the election commission to ensure transparent elections, but lamented that the PTI’s concerns were not addressed.

“The release of election results under Form-45s is crucial to uphold the public mandate,” he added. The ex-ruling party’s leader demanded an investigation into the conduct of the Feb 8 elections.

He also recalled former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha’s bombshell revelations, in which he alleged that results were changed under his watch. Gohar said that the safety of the former top official and his family should be ensured.

In a Senate session earlier in the day, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed demanded that CEC Raja step down from his position over the failure to hold transparent polls on February 8.

The JI senator said that the elections were fake and they would procreate a fake government.

Levelling serious allegations against the ECP, the senator said the electoral body committed treason for which it should seek an apology from the nation.

“A legal proceeding should be carried out against the CEC under Article 6 of the constitution, for the ECP was given Rs50 billion from the national exchequer but it failed to hold transparent polls,” he alleged.