Saad rubbishes rigging charges

LAHORE
Pakistan Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Monday appeared before an election tribunal and recorded his statement on an election petition regarding alleged rigging in constituency NA-125, filed by PTI candidate Hamid Khan who had lost the election.
The minister recorded his statement before Election Tribunal, Faisalabad, Judge Javed Rashid. Saad while recording his statement denied all rigging charges levelled against him in the NA-125 constituency by Hamid Khan. He stated the election process in his constituency was fair.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing by April 3 and summoned MPAs Mian Naseer Ahmad and Yasin Sohail who were elected from PP-155 and 156, respectively for evidence. The provincial constituencies fall under NA-125 constituency. Later, talking to media outside ECP Punjab office, the minister said the PTI and his other political rivals had nothing to prove their allegation of rigging in the constituency. He said the PTI had not raised any allegation against the 2013 election after 40 hours of polling. He said polling agents of the PTI were present on all polling stations. He claimed that the voting in NA-125 was held in a transparent manner. Not a single fake vote was recovered during the inspection of 15 polling stations of the constituency, randomly selected by the tribunal.
He said Chief Secretary and police officers of Punjab were transferred before the election. He said then caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi had damaged the PML-N in the election. He said his party had not recommended Sethi for the caretaker slot. Rafiq alleged that Imran Khan and his companions were pawns of the establishment in the 2013 general election. He questioned the justification of vote cast in favour of Imran Khan. He prayed Almighty Allah to bless Imran Khan with some wisdom since he was married now! About Rangers’ operation in Karachi, the minister said the MQM was taken into confidence and it was not against any political party but criminals. He said all political parties should isolate their militant wings themselves. Only personnel of enforcement agencies had the right to keep weapons, he added.