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Published 07 Dec, 2012 03:01am

PPP rejects by-poll results: Elections be held under judiciary

LAHORE, Dec 6: Refusing to accept the recent results, the Pakistan People’s Party has asked the Supreme Court to take notice of Election Commission code of conduct’s violation in the by-polls in Punjab and demanded the general elections be held under the judiciary’s supervision.

“In the absence of judicial officials in the by-polls, the Punjab government rigged the election at will. We reject the results of the by-polls and after analysing them in detail we will decide whether to move the court or not,” PPP central Punjab president Manzoor Wattoo told a press conference at the residence of Dewan Muhayyuddin here on Thursday.

He said instead of judicial officials working under the ECP the Punjab police had prepared the results of the election.

Wondering at the high turnout in the by-poll, he said a PML-N candidate got over 100,000 votes in a constituency where the winner had got 70,000 votes in the 2008 general election, adding in a light vein it appeared that ‘angels’ had cast these votes.

Wattoo said the PPP had demanded deployment of the rangers during the polls but the Punjab government refused.

Flanked by Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, Munir Ahmed Khan and Tahir Khaliq, Mr Wattoo said the PML-N did not achieve anything big in the by-polls by winning the seats its own candidates had vacated.

Alleging the PML-N’s Punjab government rigged the by-poll and its supporters did aerial firing and snatched ballots, he demanded the apex court should take notice of this.

“If the apex court could take notice of PPP’s Waheeda Shah’s slap, it should also take note of this blatant violation of the ECP’s code of conduct,” he argued.

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