LG elections in Punjab likely to be rigged: Imran

HARIPUR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said the government of Punjab is likely to rig the Local Government elections to be held in the province in the near future.
“We have evidence that policemen are involved in giving tickets to the candidates and asking people to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz,” he alleged at a public meetings arranged in Panian and Ghazi in connection with the by-election campaign of the PTI candidate Raja Amir Zaman for the National Assembly constituency NA-19 Haripur.
Referring to the statement of the former Inspector General of Police Abbas Khan, which he recorded in 1992 in the high court, the PTI chief said that alleged criminals were selected in the Police Department while violating the merit.
He said that appointments in Punjab Police were made on recommendations, not merit.
“Fourteen people, including two women, were killed in an attack by the Punjab Police in Model Town Lahore but the killers have not been arrested so far,” he said. He added that if the police were used for personal interests it would lead to injustices.
He said that [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif had been ruling Pakistan for the last 30 years but he did not take adequate measures for the country’s development.
“The Ittefaq Foundry was under the debt of Rs3.50 billion,” Imran Khan said, adding that since Mian Nawaz Sharif came into power he became the richest person by looting Pakistan while the poor are getting poorer.
Lambasting the Nawaz Sharif government, he said that it had ruined the police system and used it for their personal interest.
He praised the media for raising the Kasur child sex scandal and vowed to take it to the Parliament for seeking exemplary punishment to those involved in the incident.
Praising the efforts of his party’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said that the PTI came into power for the first time and made several reforms in police, patwari and education systems.
He said his party had transferred power to the grassroots level by holding local government elections and the elected representatives would now be able to spend millions of rupees for the welfare of the people.
Imran Khan urged the people to vote for the PTI election symbol “bat” on August 16 to elect the party candidate in the by-election and help bring a change in the country.