By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A senior government official in the garrison city of Rawalpindi resigned on Saturday after confessing to manipulating the results of the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections, which have been marred by allegations of fraud and protests by major political parties.
Liaquat Ali Chattha, the commissioner of Rawalpindi Division, a region that includes five districts and 39 seats in the national and provincial assemblies, said at a press conference that he had altered the outcome of 13 national assembly seats in favor of candidates who had actually lost the vote.
These five districts included Attock, Rawalpindi, Murree, Jhelum and Chakwal, which had 13 national and 26 provincial assembly seats up for grabs in the election.
Chattha also accused the chief election commissioner and a top judge of the Supreme Court of being complicit in the scheme, which he said involved putting fake stamps on ballot papers and turning large leads of some candidates into defeats.
“I am taking responsibilty for all this wrongdoing,” Chatha told reporters outside the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
“The wrongful act I have committed in this election [is that] we have made people, who had lost [the election], win 13 MNA (member of the National Assembly) seats from Rawalpindi. We have turned up to 70,000[-vote] lead of individuals into their defeat.”
“Even today, our people are putting fake stamps [on ballot papers]. I apologize to all my returning officers who were working under my supervision, who were crying when I was asking them to commit this wrongful act, and they were not willing to do it.”
Chattha stunning admission came amid nationwide demonstrations by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and other opposition groups, who have rejected the official results of the elections.
The elections, which were held under a caretaker government and supervised by the Election Commission of Pakistan, failed to produce a clear winner, as independent candidates, most of them loyal to Khan, won the most seats in the 266-member National Assembly, followed by the parties of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari.
But Khan’s party, which had faced a series of obstacles before the polls, including a ban on its rallies, the removal of its party symbol and the disqualification of dozens of its candidates, claimed that it had been robbed of victory in dozens of constituencies, where it alleged that the results were delayed, manipulated or rigged.
Chattha further said that “stabbing the country in its back” does 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.”
The Election Commission of Pakistan denied Chattha’s allegations and said that it had never instructed him to change the election results.
“The commissioner of any division is neither a DRO (district returning officer), RO (returning officer) or presiding officer, nor they have a direct role in the conduct of election.”
However, the ECP said it would soon hold an inquiry into the matter.
Mohsin Naqvi, the caretaker chief minister of the Punjab province which Rawalpindi division is a part of, has ordered an independent inquiry into Chattha’s allegations.
“An independent inquiry into the allegations will be conducted,” Naqvi said in a statement. “Real facts with regard to the Rawalpindi commissioner’s allegations will be brought forth.”
The caretaker chief minister of Punjab province, Mohsin Naqvi, also ordered an independent investigation into the matter and said that the facts would be made public.
The controversy over the election results has plunged Pakistan into a political crisis and raised doubts about the legitimacy of the next government, which is expected to be formed by Sharif’s party with the support of the Bhutto’s PPP and some smaller parties.
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