LAHORE: The PML-N has demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the cantonment boards election results on the polling day and threatened it will launch an agitation if the government attempts to rig the poll.

The cantonment boards polls are being held on Sept 12 and the government announced that the result would be declared five days later on Sept 17.

“The results of the cantonment boards elections should be announced on the day of polling and the polling timing should be from 8am to 5pm instead of 4pm,” PML-N leader Saad Rafique told a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Model Town here on Tuesday.

He was flanked by former speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and provincial information secretary Azma Bokhari.

Rafique said the PML-N had raised a written objection to the poll plan, but had not yet received any reply from the ECP.

He alleged that the government on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan had already planned rigging the cantonment board polls in different cities in the province, assigning Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar with the task.

He alleged the premier had visited the Governor House recently and met two independent candidates of Walton Cantonment Board after which they joined the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

“We have issued a picture of this meeting on social media. The Lahore police and district administration have also been directed to pick up the PML-N activists a day or two before the polls. Besides, posting and transfers of government officials are also being ordered to influence the polls. A PTI senator is also distributing money [among the candidates] in the Walton Cantonment,” he said and urged the ECP to take notice of this.

“We will not allow pre-poll, or post-poll rigging. If the government does so, we will take to the street,” he warned and said there should be no misuse of state institutions.

Ayaz Sadiq said the PML-N workers were ready to agitate if the rigging was committed. He claimed the PML-N was in a position to win the cantonment board polls comprehensively, demanding the ECP should take action against those violating the election code.

Meanwhile, opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz has said reshuffling of the bureaucracy every now and then showed inefficiency of the Buzdar administration.

“During the last three years, four home secretaries, six IGPs, five principal secretaries, eight irrigation secretaries, three information secretaries, 11 higher education secretaries and six secretaries of specialised healthcare had been changed, showing a complete incompetence of the Buzdar administration,” he said and added that the plan to run Punjab from Islamabad had badly failed.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2021