New Delhi: Amid widespread allegations of rigging in the Pakistan national elections held on February 8, jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and other parties are now demanding the resignation of the country’s Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. According to local media reports, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, after a meeting with Imran Khan, told the media on Tuesday outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where the latter is incarcerated that his party wants Raja to resign immediately.
“After meeting Khan sahib on Tuesday, the PTI demanded that the CEC resign, he has no right to stay in the position for a single day,” Dawn quoted Gohar as saying. He demanded that all the inquiries into poll discrepancies should be impartial and without any interference. “We want the election results to be in accordance with the mandate of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, during the first Senate session being held following the February 8 elections, there were widespread calls on Tuesday for legal measures against the CEC and an inquiry into the election process. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani presided over the session where a motion to suspend the proceedings was presented and approved.
Subsequently, the Upper House initiated a discussion on the recently concluded general elections. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) urged for accountability, proposing a treason case against the CEC. He emphasised the need to invoke Article 6 for constitutional violations and betrayal, underscoring the importance of a transparent investigation into alleged irregularities during the elections.
These developments come after Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha on Saturday resigned from his post in protest against poll irregularities, particularly rigging. Following this, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) formed a High-level Committee to probe the allegations. The ECP said that the committee will record the statements of returning officers and district returning officers. The committee was supposed to submit its report within three days to the ECP.
JI’s Ahmad pointed out that the rigging was exposed by Chatha and asserted that the recent polls have plunged the country into a ‘severe’ economic and political crisis. At the heart of the matter is the issuance of Form 45 in polling stations. The ECP offers various forms for documenting constituency results, with Form 45, commonly referred to as the 'Result of Count' form, being of utmost significance. Serving as an official record, this form plays a vital role in consolidating results within a constituency. It includes crucial details about the polling station, such as its number, the corresponding constituency, the total registered voters, the overall votes cast and a detailed breakdown of the votes received by each candidate.
At a separate conference in Islamabad, Gohar Ali Khan expressed dissatisfaction with the ECP, asserting that it fell short in meeting its responsibilities at every stage. He highlighted that the responsibility for Form 45s lay with the ECP, and returning officers were obligated to declare results based on these documents. However, he contended that such adherence to procedure is hindered under the current CEC.
The PTI-backed independent candidates emerged as the largest entity in the final results declared after days of delay since polling was held on February 8. According to the figures released by the Election Commission of Pakistan, PTI-backed independents won 92 of the 266 directly-elected seats in the National Assembly, while former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 75 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, won 54.
In a press conference last week, PTI central information secretary Raoof Hasan said that, according to their estimates, out of 177 seats, which were supposed to be of PTI-backed independent candidates, only 92 have been given to them. “And 85 seats have been taken away from us fraudulently,” The Business Recorder quoted Hasan as saying. “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 Form 45 and Form 47. Before the official confirmation of the ultimate results, Form 47 records the preliminary results within a constituency. This document encompasses the total votes cast in the constituency, a detailed breakdown of votes for each candidate, and the count of cancelled or rejected votes. Form 47 is compiled by consolidating the information derived from Form 45.
During the same press conference that was addressed by Hasan, PTI member Shandana Gulzar gave a presentation featuring visuals on a big screen, highlighting purported irregularities in the elections. She pointed out that despite securing 1.25 million votes in Karachi, PTI did not secure any seat and similarly, JI received 7,00,000 votes in Karachi without gaining a single National Assembly seat. Gulzar also noted that in Punjab, PTI received 13.6 million votes, but was only allocated 55 seats.
Imran Khan, in an AI-generated statement of victory following the elections, had claimed that PTI won “170 seats” of the 266 elected seats, according to Form 45s. Form 47s, however, showed PTI-backing independents only winning 93 seats. So, until the issue of Form 45 is resolved and the CEC takes action in this regard, uncertainty will continue to prevail in the political scenario of Pakistan.
Read more: Pak Polls: Imran Khan's Party Embarks On Agitation Protesting Rigged Results On Many Seats
