ET’s verdict acceptable but with reservations: Pervaiz

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Monday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had accepted the verdict of the Election Tribunal (ET), ordering re-election in NA-125 though the party had its reservations about it.
He said that they were ready for a re-election as well.Talking to a news channel, he said the word ‘pressure’ was not in the dictionary of the PML-N.The minister said the party had a history of confronting testing times without taking any pressure.
He said if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wanted to remain a victim of over-confidence, let it be, but the reality was that the PTI had failed to prove rigging in the general elections. general elections.
Pervaiz Rashid said that PTI had alleged that rigging was done with them and their mandate was stolen but failed to provide any evidence in support of their argument, as Election Tribunal had mentioned in its decision that no rigging was done in NA-125.
There were, however, some formalities which the returning officers (ROs) had failed to fulfill, he mentioned.The minister said it was also not mentioned in the decision that Saad Rafique was responsible for these irregularities or any sort of rigging.
There might be a possibility that Hamid Khan was responsible for the irregularities as about 48 ROs were changed few hours before the elections on the demand of Hamid Khan so that he could level rigging allegations against PML-N after the elections, he underlined.
He said the decision regarding appeal in Supreme Court against the decision of Election Tribunal or going for reelections in NA-125 would be taken after consultation with the political leadership and legal experts of the party.It would be a collective decision not an individual one, he added.
Our correspondent adds from Lahore: Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has rejected all the rigging charges and said the election tribunal’s decision ordering reelection in NA-125 was against the returning officer and the presiding officers of the constituency.
Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club, the senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said the runner-up Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, Hamid Khan, had failed to prove rigging and refused to acknowledge the tribunal’s verdict, while citing a technicality.
“The tribunal’s decision proves that there was no rigging. Even though the judge could have said that rigging had taken place, he did not explicitly mention it,” Rafique stated.He remarked that the decision might result in the “disqualification” of the returning officer.“If returning officers are to be blamed for malpractices, why my voters and I are being punished,” he lamented.
About the claim made by Hamid Khan’s lawyer that Saad Rafique paid Rs20 million as bribe to the returning officer to rig the elections, he responded, “I don’t want to start a blame game but Imran Khan says a lot of lies. So, if Hamid Khan lies once, I shouldn’t mind.”
Saad Rafique said the decision to approach the Supreme Court with regards to challenging the tribunal’s verdict was something he could not take without consulting the party members. But, he added that he was ready to contest the elections again.
Earlier, he told media persons outside the ECP office said the decision was against the requirements of justice, adding that his party would decide either to challenge the tribunal’s decision in the Supreme Court or contest the reelection.He said the tribunal judge did not declare him disqualified but awarded punishment to his voters for the negligence of returning officer, presiding officers and election staff.
Saad said according to the tribunal judge, irregularities were proved in only seven polling stations, which did not mean proving any sort of rigging. He said he was street fighter and would contest by-election if his party decided.Meanwhile, PTI’s counsel Mian Muhammad Hussain alleged that Returning Officer Khalid Ahmed Bhatti took Rs20 million, a vehicle and a plot as bribe to ensure to Saad’s victory.