'Converted losers into winners': Senior Pakistan official admits to poll-rigging under his watch, resigns

‘Converted losers into winners’: Senior Pakistan official admits to poll-rigging under his watch, resigns

NEW DELHI: A senior Pakistani bureaucrat on Saturday claimed that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice were involved in rigging the recently concluded elections in the country. Commissioner of Rawalpindi Division Liaquat Ali Chatta resigned from his position taking responsibility for the alleged “wrongdoing”.

Addressing a press conference, Chatta admitted that “rigging” took place in the Rawalpindi Division.

“We converted the losers into winners with a 50,000 votes margin,” he told the reporters. Expressing remorse for his actions, Chatta surrendered himself to the police and emphasized that both the chief election commissioner and the chief justice were fully involved in the matter.

“I am taking the responsibility for all this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved in this,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

“I should be punished for the injustice I have done and others who were involved in this injustice should also be punished. It is my request to the entire bureaucracy to not do anything wrong for all these politicians,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) strongly rejected the allegations Chattha has made against the chief election commissioner.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan strongly rejects the allegations levelled by the Commissioner Rawalpindi on the chief election commissioner or the election commission and no official of the election commission never issued any instructions regarding changing the election results to the Commissioner Rawalpindi,” the ECP said in a statement.

“Neither is the commissioner of any division ever appointed as a DRO, RO or presiding officer, nor do they ever play a direct role in the conduct of elections,” it added.

Earlier, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, representing the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, voluntarily surrendered the seat that he had won in the recent provincial elections held in Karachi, citing allegations of vote rigging in his favor.

The national and provincial elections, which took place on February 8, were marred by accusations of rigging aimed at thwarting independent candidates supported by incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Despite these claims, the caretaker government and Pakistan’s election commission have firmly rejected the allegations, asserting that the country possesses laws and systems to address specific complaints.

(With inputs from agencies)

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