ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Wednesday said general elections will be held in 2018 and only local bodies elections will be conducted in the year 2015.
Talking to a private television, regardless of baseless allegations of PTI, the government will continue to work for betterment of economy, for resolving of issue of energy shortages and strengthening of democracy.
To a question, he said Election Commission has possession of ballot bags and only it can order their opening.
Nawaz Sharif cannot even touch the bags, he said adding different parties went to Election Commission for redressal of their electoral complaints according to the law.
Re-polling was held in the constituency of PML-N candidate Omar Ayub and he was declared winner as PTI did rigging in that constituency, he added.
The minister said bags were opened in constituencies of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafiq and their votes rather increased and nothing wrong was found there.
He said Imran Khan never talked about political cell of Pakistan Muslim League (N) for last two years but now he has included it in the list of allegations.
Imran was earlier blaming former chief justice, former army chief, chief minister Punjab, Returning Officers, speech of Nawaz Sharif and a media group for rigging in elections.
This media group gave maximum coverage to Imran Khan and his party and also raised funds along with him, he recalled.
The minister said Pakistan Muslim League(N) is a political party and like all others it has a political cell.
The party had no influence over executive and judiciary during elections conducted by a caretaker government, he commented.
He said, on the basis of its allegations, PTI abused politicians, attacked the Parliament and Pakistan Television, entered the Prime Minister House and dug graves for their opponents.
"The cousins talked about living and dying together during the agitation."
He said proceedings of the judicial commission should not be discussed at this stage and he cannot forecast its result, adding Judicial Commission will reach its own conclusions.
The minister said PTI has to give answers and tell how rigging was done.
He said he can tell names of dozens of officers who served in Punjab during elections and now were at good posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The minister said name of Najam Sethi was not proposed by Pakistan Muslim League(N) for post of caretaker chief minister.
Before elections Najam Sethi transferred every official from Chief Secretary to peon in Punjab who worked with the previous government, he said adding Najam Sethi posted those officers who were not related to the PML-N but were considered close to Pervaiz Elahi.
The minister said earlier Election Commissions were constituted by the sitting government but now Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition can appoint the Chief Election Commissioner.
Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was appointed with the consultation of Imran Khan who appreciated the choice.
He said members of the Election Commission were appointed according to the Constitution and PML-N cannot change them.
He said no party agrees with the definition of rigging of Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI).
PTI was standing on the container along with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Sheikh Rashid while other parties had different kind of complaints and they did not stand with PTI on the issue.
To a question, he said purchase of ink for voting was done not by the present government, adding investigation agencies still have to ascertain the reasons for short shelf life of ink and other technical mistakes undermining its quality.
The minister said PTI was constantly changing its stance on the issue of rigging.
It was demand of Imran Khan that judges should conduct elections as Returning Officers and it was not demand of PML-N, he said adding former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry handed down many decisions against the PML-N and reversed its orders.
He said PML-N got 32 percent votes in the past elections and the same percentage of votes it obtained in the 2013 elections.
The total vote of Muslim League including that of PML(Q) was polled in favour of PMLN-N, he added.
He said Imran Khan even after 19 years of politics could not get enough votes for his party.
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