Government insists polls were quite fair

Federal government has urged the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to end their sit-ins forthwith and play a constructive role in national politics. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, while addressing a press conference along with Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, Minister of State Muhammad Zubair and Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid, said that fairness of 2013 general elections had been acknowledged by all the neutral observers, including international.
Iqbal also urged Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri to shun "fascism" and talk about democracy, adding that continuation of the sit-ins would amount to sabotaging the forthcoming visit of the Chinese President. He said there is no substance in vote rigging allegations, because neutral observers declared 2013 general elections as free, fair and transparent.
He said it was ridiculous to say that the caretakers appointed by PPP Government paved the way for the victory of PML-N. Iqbal said for the first time Election Commission was appointed through a national consensus. About initial demand of the PTI for opening of four constituencies, he said it was within the powers of the Election Tribunals and not the Government. Referring to a complaint of Imran Khan that the process of disposal of election petitions was slow, Ahsan reminded him that he could not dispose of appeals against party elections in 18 months.
Ahsan also reminded him that if his allegations of massive rigging in elections were correct then why he filed petitions against only 50 out of one thousand constituencies. Ahsan said printing of ballot papers and their distribution was responsibility of Pakistan Army. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman said that Imran Khan should pay his attention to resolve the problems of the province, where his party is in power. She said that the sit-ins have ignored the miseries of the IDPs.
Zahid Hamid, Minister for Science and Technology, said that an important tour of the Chinese President was scheduled during which agreements worth billions of dollars will be signed, but the sit-ins could also disturb this schedule. He said the government made all-out efforts to resolve the issue and it still wants a peaceful resolution of the present political impasse. He said the dialogue committee of the opposition is playing an important role, hoping that it will help resolve the issue.
Minister of State Muhammad Zubair said that a number of international organisations in their reports have described the fairness of the elections and victory of PML-N. He said the ratings of international survey organisations are also in favour of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. He said Imran Khan is talking about rigging in the elections but he has failed to prove his allegations.