ISLAMABAD: PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said the credibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was at stake as efforts were afoot to steal by-polls on 20 vacant provincial assembly seats by the “Hamza Shehbaz-led dwindling government”.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commis­sioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, the former foreign minister said the ECP should deal with this situation with dignity and warned that if rigging took place and choice results were derived, there would be a question mark not only on the 20 PA seats, but also on the next general election.

He alleged that under a directive of Hamza Shehbaz, the administration officials concerned in respective districts were asked to ensure the victory of PML-N candidates, as his CM slot relied on these election results.

Mr Qureshi said new development projects worth millions of rupees were being launched in these constituencies and even planks were being installed on the schemes launched by the PTI government.

Qureshi alleges administration officials asked to ensure victory of PML-N candidates

He insisted that as per the law if the by-elections were to be held on July 17, the polling scheme must be displayed on June 17 so that objections, if any, could be pointed out and addressed accordingly.

The PTI leader also talked about alleged transfer of votes and installing polling staff of PML-N sympathisers. To this, CEC Raja showed to Mr Qureshi a press release issued by the ECP giving directives to the administrations concerned to ensure strict compliance with the code of conduct and that if there would be violations, swift actions would be taken against those responsible.

“If they think, PTI will silently watch their bids for rigging, they are mistaken, we will not tolerate rigging and move well within the legal ambit on this count,” Mr Qureshi made it clear.

To his information, he said, new cases had been filed under the anti-terrorism act against 13 party leaders in Lahore and alleged that this was a practical shape of fascism and atrocity and coercion of the present regime. He claimed that all the cases against PTI leaders were fake and based on concocted stories.

On the fresh delimitation of constituencies, he said he conveyed concerns of his party to the chief election commissioner, who explained the process and the option of filing appeals. “We intend to file appeals and expect redressal of our genuine complaints. I also request the CEC to issue orders with regards to vote transfers,” he said.

Mr Qureshi said he had been informed by the Islamabad district administration and other officials that legal proceedings against Ali Haider Gilani, allegedly involved in buying votes for his father former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani’s election as senator as per the ECP order, had been started and two hearings held too so far.

The former foreign minister said he heard that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had during his recent visit to the US held out assurance to the American officials that the Shehbaz Sharif government would not oppose India’s bid to become permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He asked both the prime minister and foreign minister to immediately explain the exact position of the government and if what he heard was true then whether the assurance was from him or on behalf of the Shehbaz government, as there was a wave of concern among people on this.

Mr Qureshi said Pakistan had strongly opposed India’s efforts to become UNSC’s permanent member and had very strong reasons for this opposition.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022