RTS system failure was not only cause of polls rigging: PPP

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Wednesday said that results transmission system (RTS) was not responsible for not taking signatures of 95 percent of polling agents of candidates on Form 45 after throwing them out of polling stations.

“It was unfortunate that the alleged RTS failure issue has once again been brought to the forefront by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and a blame game has started to cover up the most obvious and blatant rigging systematically carried out in Elections 2018,” said In-charge of PPP Central Election Cell ex-senator Taj Haider in a statement.

Taj Haider pointed out that the IT system did save time and ensure transparency but if the inputs are rigged and manipulated the output results would be no better.

“Even if, as alleged the RTS had failed, conventional methods of preparing provisional and final results could have easily worked, but only if counting of votes was done in presence of polling agents and Forms 45 were signed by them. It is a pity that only 128 Forms 45 out of more than 78,000 have been signed by polling agents of candidates belonging to political parties,” he said.

Taj Haider said that in the case of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was contesting from three NA constituencies, only two forms 45 have been signed by his polling agents in all the three constituencies.