'Incomplete voter lists provided for NA-120 to facilitate rigging'

Published August 4, 2017
Dr Yasmin Rashid alleges that pre-poll rigging is in full swing in NA-120. — DawnNews
Dr Yasmin Rashid alleges that pre-poll rigging is in full swing in NA-120. — DawnNews

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf 's (PTI) nominee for the NA-120 seat, Dr Yasmin Rashid, on Friday alleged that pre-poll rigging "is in full swing" in the constituency.

The seat had fallen vacant after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif from holding public office by the Supreme Court and his subsequent de-notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

While addressing a press conference in Lahore, Dr Rashid said that after the election schedule is announced, no change can be made to voter lists and no development can be done in the constituency according to the rules set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

"Yet, when we asked for the voter lists, we were given a list that was updated till December 2016, which shows an increase of 30,000 voters over the past three years," she said.

"However, when we asked for the estimated increase in voters over the past seven months [from December 2016 till July 2017], we were told that we should expect an increase of 25,000 to 30,000 voters."

Dr Rashid wondered what could have happened that had caused the number of voters to swell by the same amount in the last seven months as it did in three years till December 2016.

"We did not know how the electoral system works in this country in the 2013 elections; however, in the past three years, we have learned a lot. These signs I see tell me that pre-poll rigging is in full swing in NA-120," Dr Rashid alleged.

Moving on to her other point of contention, Dr Rashid said, "The other problem is that they have not decided if they will use a biometric polling system or a manual one. They have suggested that they may use both — which is impractical and will affect the electoral results."

"We have been pushing for a biometric system across the board, but there are just six weeks left in the election and people of the constituency have not been educated on how to use that system. This is another delaying tactic," she alleged

Gulalai's allegations: "How can the people running this 'dirty campaign' investigate it"

During the same press conference, PTI leader Shafqat Mehmood said that PML-N should not investigate Ayesha Gulalai's allegations against Imran Khan as they are the ones behind this "dirty campaign."

Shafqat Mehmood in today's press conference — *DawnNews*
Shafqat Mehmood in today's press conference — DawnNews

"These people know that they have lost all political ground in the country to us and thus are resorting to such dirty tactics," he said.

He added that this was his personal opinion, but he believed that although the party will have no objections to an inquiry in the matter, they would not want the PML-N to look into it as they are the ones behind the "bogus" allegations in the first place.

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