Salman Akram Raja, who contested the Feb 8 polls with the PTI’s backing, said that the “rigging” which happened during the Feb 8 polls took place at the office of the returning officer (RO).

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he said, “Normally one talks of rigging at polling stations, where the accusation is that the rival candidates carried out the rigging. But once the votes have all been brought to the office of the RO […] and once Form 45, that tabulates the result in every polling station, has been brought to the office of the RO, one expects that the final aggregate based on the results from each of the polling stations would be done fairly by the RO.”

He said that what happened on election night and Feb 9 was a “massive assault” on democracy in Pakistan. He alleged that “fictitious” Form 47 were created and the Form 45 were “tampered with”.

“What is the point in holding an election if you are going to create a result out of thin air?” he asked. “If the state officials responsible for safeguarding the election can be won over […] then every election to be carried out in Pakistan becomes a farce,” he said.

“If this is not reversed then it spells death for democracy in Pakistan. This was not just an election fraud, it was a wholesale assault on democracy in Pakistan,” he said.