LAHORE, Aug 24: The opposition parties on Wednesday expressed their no-trust in the election commission at a joint press conference here, but declined to boycott the second phase of local polls being held on Thursday (today).

The press conference was addressed by leaders of the MMA and the PML-N, but the PPP high command was missing though names of its leaders were included in the invitation for the event.

PML-N’s Zaeem Qadri and MMA’s Farid Piracha, Qari Zawwar, Azhar Iqbal Ahsan, Maulana Amjad and Riaz Durrani alleged that the commission had become partial in the election and was taking no action on complaints by the opposition against rigging in the first round of polls on Aug 18.

They feared massive rigging by the government in the second phase as well, but vowed not to boycott it so that the field was not left open to the ruling PML.

Mr Piracha alleged that the polling staff appointed at certain stations had been summoned by agencies at the Islamia College, Cooper Road, and two other places in the name of a training course. They were told in clear terms that either they would have to declare the ruling party’s candidates successful or face dire consequences, Mr Piracha quoted some of the participants in the “training course” as informing him.

Besides providing the list of the “winning” candidates, the staff were assured that they would also be told how to engineer the poll results in their favour, he alleged.

Mr Piracha said the polling staff had been given special cell phones for giving them further instructions.

He alleged that the staff, who refused to bow down, were being replaced. He announced that the opposition would not accept the results of the polling stations where the staff would be changed at the eleventh hour.

He claimed that the government had planned to give the opposition only 40 seats of nazims in Lahore.

He said the opposition parties had decided that they would hold joint protest demonstrations in case of rigging complaint from any polling station.

Mr Qadri alleged that station house officers were getting blank papers signed from the opposition-backed candidates, who had returned as winners in the first phase. He told a questioner that the PML-N had yet to announce its support for any party in the run for district nazim.