ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday once again invited the opposition to sit together on different models of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to restore the credibility of local elections.

In a series of tweets, he said that after the recent NA-249 Karachi by-poll – won by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) by a narrow margin – all the political parties were ‘crying foul and claiming rigging’.

“The same happened in Daska recently and in the Senate elections. In fact, apart from the 1970 election, in every election claims of rigging have raised doubts over the credibility of results,” he tweeted.

He said that in 2013, there were 133 disputes of National Assembly constituencies before election tribunals.

“We asked for the examination of the votes of just four constituencies and in all four rigging was established. But it took us a year and a 126-day dharna [sit-in] to get a judicial commission which found over 40 faults in the conduct of the elections. “Unfortunately, no substantive reforms were put in place. Technology and the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) is the only answer to reclaim the credibility of elections. I invite the opposition to sit with us and select from EVM models we have available to restore the credibility of our elections,” he tweeted.

Giving the example of the US presidential election held late last year, the prime minister said that former US president Donald Trump had tried everything to dispute the results.

“But because technology was used in the electoral process, not one irregularity was found. For a year now we have been asking the opposition to cooperate with us and help reform our present electoral system.

“Our government is determined and we will put in place reforms in our electoral system through the use of technology to bring transparency and credibility to our elections and strengthen our democracy,” he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021