ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Minister for Information and Media Development Nisar A. Memon urged the politicians on Friday to stop accusing the government of “rigging” and start working for the national development and to bring a good name to the country.

Speaking to PTV, Nisar Memon said it had been a pattern in the past that as soon as some politicians felt that they could no longer win a seat, they alleged that the elections had been “rigged”. “This was the practice during all the past elections,” he said.

He said there had been no report from any part of the country of any unfair play.

“The politicians should now set good traditions” and stop making such claims, he said.

He referred the example set by the leadership of the Awami National Party (ANP) which announced to step down after failing to win any single seat as it did not meet the expectations of the party.

The politicians had to objectively assess the situation and keep in mind that they were responsible for enhancing the country’s image, he said.

In reply to a question about the relatively slow announcement of results, the information minister attributed it to a number of reasons: first time the national and provincial elections were held the same day; the number of eligible voters had increased a lot; the number of candidates, the polling stations and the seats, all had increased. So this much delay was not unusual, he added.

He said that other than 1997 polls, earlier elections had similar results, but even then governments had been formed by the coalitions.—APP