ISLAMABAD: With the PPP smelling a rat, the Chief Election Commissioner Gilgit-Baltistan Raja Shahbaz Khan on Wednesday rejected the talks of pre-poll rigging days ahead of GB assembly elections.

“There are Returning Officers in 24 constituencies who have not seen any rigging, but they can see it while sitting 600km away”, he said without naming PPP while speaking at a press conference here.

He disclosed that notices had been issued to as many as 95 individuals belonging to different political parties for running election campaign in GB in violation of the code of conduct.

He said those issued notices included Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and federal ministers Murad Saeed and Ali Amin Gandapur.

PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman in a statement expressed concern over issuance of notice to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“Why the Election Commission GB has not issued notices to Prime Minister Imran Khan and federal ministers for violation of code of conduct,” she asked.

She asked the EC not to follow the dictates from the federal government and said his attitude was raising questions over credibility of the polls.

She claimed that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had not violated any rules and pointed out that he was Chief of a party and not a federal minister.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2020