Imran reiterates re-election offer for LG polls in KP

Published June 8, 2015
Imran Khan again offered to hold re-elections. - INP/File
Imran Khan again offered to hold re-elections. - INP/File

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday repeated his offer of holding re-elections for local government (LG) seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Last week, Imran had offered to hold re-elections if the contesting political parties and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) believed his party had influenced the outcome of the polls through unfair means.

Speaking to media representatives outside the ECP office in the federal capital, Imran said, “Why should we (PTI) resign from government? It is the responsibility of the ECP to conduct free and fair elections, not the provincial government.”

Read: Imran offers re-election to parties and ECP

“Opposition parties were responsible for the rigging. We are offering to hold re-elections under the supervision of the Pakistan Army. Opposition parties are asking the PTI government to resign, why did the same people not ask Nawaz Sharif to hold re-election? They stood with him and helped him."

Read: Imran blames ECP for KP poll problems

ANP has demanded resignation of the PTI’s provincial government after rigging allegations emerged from opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the LG polls.

“In the presence of the present ruling setup in the province, re-elections are not acceptable even if they are conducted under the supervision of the army,” Awami National Party (ANP) Chief Asfandyar Wali had said while speaking.

Read: CM House behind rigging: JI

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), a partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led ruling coalition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had also held the Chief Minister House responsible for the ‘worst rigging’ in the local government elections in Peshawar and demanded that ECP declare the May 31 electoral process null and void in the district before ordering re-polling.

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