An Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesman on Sunday said last week's general elections were held in a fair and transparent manner across the country, and that no substantial evidence of any wrongdoing had been received by the commission.

Speaking on Geo News talk show Jirga, Altaf Ahmed said political parties who are complaining of irregularities during the vote count had failed to provide specifics or proofs.

He said the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), which had appointed observers for the July 25 elections, had stated in its report that the polls were comparatively "transparent and fair".

See: EU mission says election results credible; criticises pre-poll 'environment', uneven playing field

Asked about the action taken against political leaders who had violated the ECP code of conduct on election day, Ahmed said notices had been issued to all violators, while Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has been summoned to explain his violation of the secrecy of ballot while casting his vote.

Addressing accusations by several major parties that their polling agents were expelled from polling stations during the counting of votes, he said the commission had issued instructions that only one polling agent of each candidate would be allowed inside the station but that some candidates had sent as many as six or seven agents.

"If you check the record, only irrelevant people were expelled from the polling stations," he claimed.

The ECP spokesman said the commission is investigating incidences where some polling agents were handed the results on a piece of paper instead of the ECP-issued Form-45, adding that sufficient copies of the form were available with the commission.

Asked what is the standing of an election in which the counting was held in the absence of polling agents, Ahmed said the commission will take action if any illegal practices are proven or substantial evidence emerges.

Referring to a fault in the result transmission system (RTS) that was cited by the ECP as the reason behind the delay in the release of results, he said it was a "technological failure".

He claimed that several pilots of the system had been successful but it could not bear the load of data of tens of millions of voters on election day. He said the results in cities like Karachi and Lahore faced delays as all presiding officers had turned up before the Returning Officers en masse.

"There was a technological problem... but no failure [over all]," he said, adding that it could be termed a failure if the whole electoral process had collapsed.

Asked whether the chief election commissioner should consider stepping down from his post over the alleged failings of the ECP, the spokesman said there had been no complaints regarding the arrangement and organisation of the elections, while political parties who are crying foul had not provided specifics of polling stations and constituencies regarding their complaints.