LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Punjab chapter president Ejaz Chaudhry has announced the party will not take part in any by-election in the province after resigning from its Punjab Assembly seats.

Mr Chaudhry said the PTI would also not take part in the by-election being held in PP-162 (Sheikhupura) on September 22.

He reiterated the PTI did not recognise the government’s ‘fake’ mandate. He said the party had exposed the 2013 election rigging and was doing peaceful protest for remedial measures. He said the interior minister had himself admitted on the floor of the National Assembly that some 60,000 to 70,000 votes could not be verified.

Since last general elections, Mr Chaudhry said votes in 14 constituencies had been recounted and there were massive rigging evidences in each constituency.

He said some 75,000 votes had been declared fake after scrutiny of votes in NA-128. “The government was afraid of scrutiny of votes that is why it did not open four constituencies for scrutiny on PTI’s demand,” he asserted.

He said the rulers had lost the moral ground for staying in power. He said the PTI would continue holding peaceful protests till the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the PTI candidate for PP-162 by-election, Zubair Ahmad, has announced he would not take part in September 22 contest following the party decision.

He said that he and his supporters were standing with party chief Imran Khan and were convinced that participation in the “fraud elections” would be of no use.

He said the Punjab government used official machinery and administration to win the by-elections. He reiterated the election system must be reformed and biometric system be introduced for voting so that masses’ could elect their “real leaders”.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2014