PTI senator demands forensic audit of RTS failure, seeks Nadra chairman's resignation

Published August 31, 2018
Azam Khan Swati holds a press conference in Islamabad. —DawnNewsTV
Azam Khan Swati holds a press conference in Islamabad. —DawnNewsTV

PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati on Friday said the sudden failure of Result Transmission System (RTS) on election day has cast doubts over the transparency of election results, therefore, a forensic audit should be conducted into the alleged failure.

Swati said this while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, flanked by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Earlier this month, the senior PTI leader had presented a detailed report to Prime Minister Imran Khan on the alleged failure of RTS and suggested that PM Khan should suspend National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Usman Mobeen.

The senator reiterated his demand during the press conference saying a transparent probe was not possible in the presence of the incumbent Nadra chairman.

After the general election, the PTI had formed a fact-finding committee headed by Senator Swati to look into the alleged failure of the RTS.

The prime minister asked Swati to consult with the forensic experts before publishing the report and assured him of all of his cooperation.

Ready to be audited on any forum: Nadra

In response to Swati's press conference, Nadra said that the authority was ready to provide any explanation and present itself for any forensic audit.

"There is no connection between the RTS and the RMS and the RTS remained completely functional [throughout the compilation of results of the General Elections]," the Nadra spokesperson said.

The Dawn Newspaper had earlier reported that the Nadra officials believed that it was the ECP’s own costly Result Management System that had stopped functioning and the ECP had put the blame on Nadra only as a cover-up. They said that RTS and RMS were independent systems and there was no integration between the two.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...