Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha resigns from his post accepting that elections in his division were rigged
Alleges that Chief Election Commissioner & Chief Justice of Pakistan were also involved in this rigging
Says they changed the lead of 70,000 votes of winning candidates into their defeat by a margin of 50,000 votes
You can level allegations all you want, it is your right but present evidence to back it: CJP Qazi Faez Isa.
ECP spokesperson says commissioner of any division has no direct role in the conduct of the election.
RAWALPINDI + ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha on Saturday resigned from his post accepting that elections in his division were rigged.
Addressing a press conference at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Liaqat Ali Chattha said he attempted to commit suicide in the morning because his conscience was pricking him a lot.
He said he was surrendering himself to police taking responsibility for the episode. The commissioner said they changed the lead of 70,000 votes of winning candidates into their defeat by a margin of 50,000 votes.
He said the defeated candidates in Rawalpindi division were made winners. Chattha said he was feeling sorry for his subordinates to whom he forced for wrongdoings.
According to him, on 13 seats of the Rawalpindi division, the winning candidates were made defeated. He alleged that Chief Election Commissioner and Chief Justice of Pakistan were also involved in this rigging. Liaquat Ali Chattha said he deserved punishment and should be hanged at Kutchery Chowk Rawalpindi on this wrongdoing. He said that chief election commissioner and chief justice of Pakistan should also be hanged at the Kutchery Chowk Rawalpindi along with him.
Chattha said as first he tried to commit suicide at Fajr prayer but later he thought it better to tell the reality to all people. He was having sleepless nights after this backstabbing and breach of trust. He said he saw presiding officers crying over what was happening. When the journalists asked him to name the persons who forced him to carryout rigging, he did not reply. Rawalpindi division includes Attock, Murree, Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Chakwal districts.
Election Commission of Pakistan strongly rejects the allegations leveled by Rawalpindi Commissioner
ECP spokesperson says commissioner of any division has no direct role in the conduct of the election
Says ECP will hold investigations into the matter as soon as possible
Election Commission of Pakistan has strongly rejected the allegations leveled by Rawalpindi Commissioner against the chief election commissioner.
In a statement, a spokesperson of the Election Commission of Pakistan said no official of the commission gave any instruction to the Rawalpindi commissioner for change in the election results.
The spokesperson clarified that the commissioner of any division has no direct role in the conduct of the election. The commissioner is not made DRO, RO or the presiding officer. The spokesperson said the ECP will hold investigations into the matter as soon as possible.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Saturday demanded evidence of his involvement in the rigging of the February 8 elections after Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Liaqat Ali Chatha leveled serious allegations against the top judge and other authorities. “You level baseless allegations. There is no truth to it nor is evidence presented. You can level allegations all you want, it is your right but present evidence to back it. Whether good or bad, it will be determined later,” the top judge said in reaction to Saturday’s dramatic development.
While talking to media persons during his visit to the memorial of Human Rights being established at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa went on to say that his role was only restricted to the facilitation of the conduct of elections. “If someone did not want elections, that’s another story,” he said.
The CJP questioned his and apex court’s connection to the polls, saying that the court only receive and decide upon petitions linked to elections.
The CJP said that the apex court did not order the elections; instead, it asked both constitutional authorities — the president of Pakistan and the election commission of Pakistan— to stage the elections after arriving at a consensus on the date.
Responding to the allegations, CJP Isa asserted that the allegations of electoral fraud against him were baseless and lacked evidence.
Meanwhile the Supreme Court of Pakistan has decided not to take suo motu notice on the allegations of election rigging leveled by Rawalpindi Commissioner against Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
According to a private TV channel sources, this decision was reached after a consultation among the judges, including Chief Justice Isa, himself.
The allegations, which involve Chief Justice Isa’s purported involvement in poll rigging, were expected to be deliberated upon during a scheduled hearing in an election-related case on February 19.
Sources suggested that there is a possibility of the Rawalpindi Commissioner’s case being considered within the framework of this pre-arranged case.
A consultation meeting chaired by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa was reportedly convened to address the accusations made by the Rawalpindi Commissioner. Justices Muneeb Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Ayesha Malik, and Athar Manullah were also present during the deliberations. Following a careful examination of the allegations, the participants decided against taking suo motu notice on the matter.