ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has opposed the holding of by-election in the NA-125 Lahore constituency before a thorough investigation into the conduct of returning and presiding officers in the 2013 elections.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said without an investigation into the conduct of ROs and POs for allowing the casting of a large number of bogus votes cast in favour of a candidate it would be pointless to hold the by-election.

He said the PTI’s lawyers would ask the judicial commission to bring ROs and POs to book for managing the election in favour of one candidate in the constituency.

Mr Khan said since the tribunal had now determined that the outcome of election in NA-125 did not reflect the true mandate of the electorate, individual responsibility should be fixed about managing election result in favour of the PML-N.

The election petition against Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique who had won the NA-125 seat was filed by PTI candidate Hamid Khan.

The PTI chief said that the judicial commission under its terms of reference was empowered to use law-enforcement and intelligence agencies to unearth the truth and “let the general public know the reality behind the last general elections”.

He expressed the hope that election tribunals would issue similar orders on his party’s petitions against the results in NA-110, NA-122 and NA-154 constituencies. He again said that 2015 would be the year of general elections.

The PTI chairman claimed that his party’s stance that the 2013 elections had been massively rigged to bring the PML-N into power would be strengthened when the National Database Registration Authority submitted its report on NA-122 election to the tribunal.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had defeated Imran Khan in the constituency.

Mr Khan criticised Nadra for not submitting its report to the tribunal and said: “I will personally visit the Nadra chairman to ask him why he was not completing his task. He is under a lot of government pressure, especially in case of NA-122.”

He termed Khawaja Rafique a stranger in the National Assembly for the period he had spent as a lawmaker and minister. “We are living in a system where the election of a winning candidate, who also served as a minister for about two years, was declared null and void. Somebody has to be made responsible and punished for this.”

Answering a question, Hamid Khan said the detailed order of the tribunal would actually explain the extent of rigging in his constituency.

In the short order it had been proved beyond doubt that his opponent was declared a winner as a result of fraudulent elections, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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