I became a ‘powerless’ CM 7-10 days before polls: Sethi

Published June 2, 2015
Surprisingly, none of the counsel questioned him about the so-called “35 punctures”. —AFP/File
Surprisingly, none of the counsel questioned him about the so-called “35 punctures”. —AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: Najam Sethi, who was the caretaker chief minister of Punjab during the 2013 elections, conceded before the poll inquiry commission on Monday that his powers as the chief executive of the province had started slipping away seven to 10 days before the May 11 elections.

He said he had stated this in his talk show “Aapas Ki Baat” on a private television on July 5 that year. Besides, 15 days before the end of his tenure as the caretaker CM on June 6, bureaucracy had started reporting to Model Town, an obvious reference to Shahbaz Sharif who later took over as chief minister.

Also read: Sethi withdraws nomination from ICC presidency

Mr Sethi was cross-examined by counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Shahid Hamid of the PML-N and Salman Akram Raja of the Election Commission before the three-judge inquiry commission headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.

Mr Sethi said he had presided over the last cabinet meeting on April 25, 2013 – 15 days before the elections.

Surprisingly, none of the counsel questioned him about the so-called “35 punctures” relating to allegations levelled by Imran Khan and other leaders of the PTI that he (Mr Sethi) had manipulated the election results in at least 35 constituencies.

Later in a Twitter message, Mr Sethi said: “PTI’s Mr Pirzada did not ask even one question from me in Judicial Comm today regarding ‘35 pentures’ (sic)! Why? Because it is a big lie.”

During the proceedings, the PTI surprised the commission investigating allegations of ‘systematic rigging’ in the 2013 elections when its counsel said he might cross-examine the party’s chief.

“I may also cross-examine Imran Khan after the release of all documents by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” Hafeez Pirzada said.

The suggestion came after the completion of testimonies of Najam Sethi and anchorperson Hamid Mir – the last two persons on PTI’s list of witnesses.

But the commission asked the counsel to submit an application stating the relevance of cross-examination of Mr Khan and said it would take a decision on the matter later.

Referring to apprehensions expressed by the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) in its application over alleged manipulation of results of the election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Pirzada said the PTI chief had no objection to the opening of all polling bags in KP.

On May 29, the commission had asked the PTI counsel to get instructions from Mr Khan on the PPPP application.

Najam Sethi said on Monday that he had been appointed chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on June 21, 2013, by its patron, the prime minister, and admitted that one of his nieces had been elected MNA on a reserved seat on a PML-N ticket.

He admitted that as chief minister he had reshuffled the entire Punjab bureaucracy, except four secretaries, to ensure fairness in the elections. Javed Iqbal was his first choice as chief secretary, and he now serves as Pakistan’s representative at the IMF in Washington DC. But, Mr Sethi said, when the ECP had appointed Qamar Zaman Chaudhry (incumbent chairman of NAB), Mr Khan objected to it. He said he had persuaded the then chief election commissioner to withdraw the name and also sought approval of Mr Khan for Javed Iqbal who graciously agreed.

Soon after assuming the office, he said, he had met Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pervaiz Ellahi, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Imran Khan and leaders of the PPP. He said he had received phone calls from Mr Khan once or twice and addressed the problems the latter was facing during his election campaigns.

Mr Sethi said that although he was not in contact with Nawaz Sharif, he had conveyed security concerns about his electioneering but the latter did not agree to cancel his rallies. Similar concerns were conveyed to Mr Khan, but he also declined not to hold rallies.

Mr Sethi said he had been arrested in 1999 by the government of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif but released on the orders of then chief justice of the Supreme Court. Mr Pirzada was the main pillar of support during those trying days, he added.

TV anchorperson Hamid Mir created some ripples when he presented the original ballot book No1285 relating to the NA-223 constituency in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar, a property of the ECP. He said he had shown the book in one of his talk shows but no-one came to collect it from him. Abdus Sattar Bachani won the seat, defeating PML-N’s Dr Raheela Magsi.

When Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP asked Mr Mir to name the person who had provided him the ballot book, he said it was a privileged information.

When Hamid Mir said he had no political commitment to any party he was shown three video clips of his talks shows and he admitted that Shah Abdul Aziz, a losing candidate in a KP constituency where a PTI candidate had won the elections, had brought a sack of ballot papers, saying these ballots should not have come to him.

He admitted that he had cited instances in his talk shows that the elections had been rigged in the four provinces as well as tribal areas and also mentioned constituencies where rigging had taken place.

Mr Mir said he had mentioned a Fafen report in one of the programmes relating to the polling of 100 to 300 per cent votes in excess to the registered number of votes in certain polling stations, but it was later clarified by the ECP and Fafen.

He said he had also mentioned in a programme that the polling officer in PB-46 Kharan (Balochistan) was an official of the Frontier Corps. Sanaullah Baloch was a candidate of BNP in the constituency.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2015

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