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Wednesday, October 09, 2013
PTI to protest if LB polls not held on party basis: Imran*PTI chief says NA-256 fraud unacceptable
LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will take to streets if local government elections are not held on party basis, PTI Chairman Imran Khan told a press conference on Tuesday.
He said that those responsible for rigging in May elections must be punished. Khan said that his party accepted election results but asserted his party would never accept rigging while referring to a report issued by NADRA that exposed massive irregularities during elections in NA-256, Karachi.
He urged the chief justice of Pakistan to look into the issue.
“We want accountability as it is the only way for fair elections in the future,” he said.
He added that according to the NADRA report, only 6,805 votes were found genuine out of 84,448 votes cast at 66 polling stations of the constituency NA-256 comprising Faisal Cantonment, Shah Faisal Colony, Council-1 of the Model Colony in Malir Town and parts of Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The PTI chairman also said, “The election commission should also be held accountable. Without accountability, corruption will not end and the public is then burdened in terms of inflation.”
“Democracy will not prevail until and unless free and fair elections are held. Dictators carry out such [May 11] elections. How can people involved in the rigging become clean in the assembly?” he said.
Khan also said that if justice is not done then the PTI will protest in the streets.
He claimed that PTI was not part of the rigging in the elections, and the party will also hold free and fair by-elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Khan said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was trying to introduce biometric and electronic voting system during the local government elections.
“We want to create an example so that no one can point a finger that there was election fraud in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
Khan said that the leaders of PML-N cannot face the masses due to poor performance. He also congratulated PTI candidate Khuram Shehzad for defeating PML-N candidate in PP-72 Faisalabad by-elections. He said that the youth had cast their vote with the same spirit as was shown in the general elections on May 11.
Khan said that his party still maintained the stance of recount with fingerprint verification in four constituencies. He said proof of rigging in two constituencies of Karachi has already been revealed.
Khan said the PTI had not been consulted on the NAB chief appointment. staff report/online
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk