A Pakistani bureaucrat on Saturday alleged that the chief election commissioner and chief justice were involved in rigging the recent national election in the country, reported PTI.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha said he took “responsibility for all this wrongdoing” and resigned from his post. The bureaucrat claimed that the candidates who were “losing” the elections “were made to win”.
In the national election held on February 8, Independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 93 seats. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League-Nawaz party won 75 seats and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party secured 54 seats.
Pakistan’s National Assembly has 336 seats, of which 266 are decided by direct voting and 70 are reserved. To form the government on its own, a party needs to win at least 134 seats through the ballot.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s People’s Party backed Shehbaz Sharif, a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader, for the post of prime minister, reported Dawn.
Chattha’s allegations came against the backdrop of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf starting its nationwide protests against the alleged rigging of the national election.
The bureaucrat said on Saturday that “stabbing the country in its back” would not let him sleep. “I should be punished for the injustice I have done and others who were involved in this injustice should also be punished,” he added.
Responding to Chattha’s statement, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s lawyer Hamid Khan called for a nationwide judicial inquiry into the allegations.
“Now that an important person from the government machinery is saying this, it provides confirmation,” said Hamid Khan.
Apart from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and the Grand Democratic Alliance have also raised concerns about the alleged rigging of the election.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected the allegations, reported Dawn.
“No official of the commission gave any instruction to the Rawalpindi commissioner for change in the election results,” the commission stated, adding that the matter would be investigated.
Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir also “rejected” Chattha’s claims. “If he was forced, why did he not come forward on election day?” he asked. “Why did he come clean after election day?”
The minister said that the senior bureaucrat had “not shown any proof” of the alleged tampering of the results.
“I imagine he’s trying to kickstart his political career after he retires,” Mir said, adding that the commissioner was retiring on March 13.
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