‘Wholesale assault on democracy’: PTI gives presentation on alleged rigging

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) held a detailed press conference in Islamabad to present “original and signed Form-45s as proof of extensive electoral fraud in compilation” of election results.

Addressing the presser, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan said as per their estimates, out of 177 seats which were supposed to be PTI, only 92 have been given to them.

“And 85 seats have been taken away from us fraudulently,” he claimed.

“We have verified data about 46 seats and it is being compiled for 39 seats,” Hasan said.

He shared that they had three ways to ascertain alleged rigging in the polls, adding that there were discrepancies between the Form 45 and Form 47.

The secretary further said that there was also a huge difference in the numbers of votes polled for National Assembly and provincial assembly seats.

“The number of rejected votes, in certain cases, exceed the margin of victory.”

At the same time, former information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also held a press conference, refuting and challenging PTI’s claims. “How is it that the Election Commission of Pakistan held fair elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where PTI won, and unfairly in Punjab?

“It can’t be pick-and-choose where you lost,” she added.

Meanwhile, during the PTI press conference, party member Shandana Gulzar then gave a presentation showing graphics on a large screen on alleged rigging in the elections.

“We got 1.25 million votes in Karachi but we did not get a single seat. Jamaat-i-Islami received 700,000 votes and not a single National Assembly seat in Karachi,” she said.

She further said that in Punjab, they got 13.6m votes and were given 55 seats.

At 3am on February 9, the PTI had won 154 seats in the National Assembly while the PML-N and PPP had won 47 each, she said.

“This is a joke with the people of Pakistan,” Gulzar said.

Wholesale assault on democracy

Meanwhile, Salman Akram Raja, who contested the polls with the PTI’s backing, asked what was the point in holding an election “if you are going to create a result out of thin air?”

“This was not just an election fraud, it was a wholesale assault on democracy in Pakistan,” he said.

He added that what happened on election night and February 9 was a “massive assault” on democracy in Pakistan.

Ready to contest polls again

Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar, who contested from NA-7, alleged that her house was raided on the directives of PML-N’s Khawaja Asif.

“Contest elections outside. Don’t break doors and disrespect a mother,” she said.

“If you want, I am ready to contest the polls again,” she said.

Seats ‘handed out’ to MQM-P

Similarly, party leader Khurram Sher Zaman also alleged rigging, saying that seats were “handed out” to MQM-P.

As per the Form 45, the PTI had won 19 National Assembly seats in Karachi, Zaman said.

He said that the Jamaat-i-Islami had garnered the second highest number of votes according to the Form 45.

“In my own constituency, Returning Officer refused to rig the results, so at midnight they changed the Returning Officer,” the PTI leader from Karachi said.

Earlier, in a post on X, the PTI said leader Salman Akram Raja would lead the event scheduled at Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel.

PTI claims it had secured absolute majority in the general elections, but the results were changed later when Forms 47 were issued. The allegations have been denied.

This announcement comes after the party announced to hold “peaceful” protests across the country on Saturday against alleged rigging in the 2024 general elections held on February 8.

Speaking to media outside Adiala Jail, PTI leaders including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Akram Raja, and Sher Afzal Khan Marwat said the party would conduct “strong opposition” in the Parliament until the “full mandate” was returned.

Gohar said PTI has nominated Mian Aslam Iqbal as the candidate for Punjab’s chief minister.

Moreover, he informed that PTI has picked Aqibullah Khan as the candidate for speaker of the KP Assembly. The candidates for the National Assembly’s speaker and deputy speakers would be announced soon, Gohar added.

He also clarified that PTI will not talk to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for government formation.

The party founder has already nominated Omar Ayub for the prime minister’s slot and Ali Amin Gandapur for KP’s chief minister.