PTI didn’t even try to prove organised rigging: Sethi

LAHORE: Talking about Dr Shahid Masood’s claim that he listened to the ‘35 Punctures’ audio tape and had also conducted a forensic test, Najam Sethi on Saturday said Masood should say sorry as he would have to find ten more lies to hide one. He, perhaps, would try to devise another conspiracy theory to save his own skin, Sethi added.
Expressing his views in Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’, he said the Judicial Commission held 39 sessions during 86 days as the PTI and the PML-N as well as the ECP argued their case; however, there had been no mention of organised rigging. The PTI did not even try to prove the organised rigging claim and couldn’t submit any evidence against the five/ six personalities who had been accused of collaborated rigging, he said.
Four issues - extra ballot papers, missing Form-15, returning officers (ROs)’ role and the 12 constituencies of Punjab and two in KP where extra ballot papers were sent - were discussed before the commission, Sethi said.
He said one important thing was noticed during the proceedings that the ECP had authorised the ROs in Punjab to decide how many ballot papers were to be published, but it asked the ROs in the other provinces to print certain number of ballot papers. Salman Akram Raja - the counsel for ECP - replying to various question on the issue said Punjab had been decentralised being a large province, he added.
According to Sethi, rigging is always done under a planned conspiracy. On the issue, Salman argued before the commission that there was no fraud and only mismanagement had been found. It was perhaps because of the poorly trained ROs.
It wasn’t limited to Punjab and had been experienced across the country.
About the missing Form-15, Sethi said the ROs were responsible for submitting the documents. He said out of a total of around 272 National Assembly seats, petitions against results were filed in 137. Of those, 112 were dismissed, 15 allowed with the remaining 10 still pending.
He said 90 per cent results had been confirmed by election tribunals, meaning they were authentic. The Judicial Commission’s verdict would be of great help for the electoral reforms committee, he said, adding that rectifying the loopholes in the ECP through the decision would be good for the country’s future.