PTI accuses Punjab govt of rigging ahead of by-elections

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan has strongly condemned the Punjab government and the police for allegedly resorting to pre-poll rigging ahead of April 21 by-elections.

During a news conference here, Omar came hard on the provincial government and the police for their approach and high-handedness against PTI candidates and their supporters ahead of the by-polls, calling it pre-poll rigging, which he insisted was intolerable and unacceptable.

Flanked by PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, Omar also demanded that the Faizabad inquiry report should be made public and the responsible punished instead of locking the report in the cupboard to protect the wrongdoers.

He pointed out that his party’s candidate for PP-36 was being harassed by the Punjab Police, which raided and sieged his house and a prisoner van reached there. They also did not allow the party to hold public gatherings and corner meetings, he said. Omar charged that brutal and coercive tactics were employed against PTI leaders and workers in other constituencies to spread fear in order to rig the elections. He said that the number of polling stations was reduced, and they were set up in remote areas under a malicious plot to influence the elections.

Talking about Iran and Israel issue, Omar stated that Ishaq Dar should have given a policy statement on the dangerously escalating tension in the Middle East but unfortunately the Pakistani foreign minister did not have time to give any policy statement in this regard. He said they welcomed the Saudi high level delegation’s visit to Pakistan but added that the investors would first see the rule of law in the country.