Fazl accuses govt of pre-poll rigging in GB

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Friday accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of pre-poll rigging in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and said the election code of conduct was being grossly violated.

“The fake government has drawn up a pre-poll rigging plan in Gilgit-Baltistan. The political bribes are being doled out for that,” said the Maulana, who is also heading the 11-member opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), while speaking at a news conference at his residence.

He was flanked by the JUI parliamentary party leader in the KP Assembly, Maulana Lutfur Rahman.

The Maulana alleged that wheat was being distributed in a large number of trucks, which carried banners with the portraits of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PDM chief said various tactics were being employed to ensure the win for the ruling PTI in the election.

“A candidate was asked to quit in favour of the PTI in the promise that he would be named an adviser,” said the Maulana. Citing another example of alleged pre-poll rigging, the JUI chief said the tally of the voters, who were government employees, in a constituency was 700 but the Election Commission had issued 1,079 ballot papers for that. The Maulana said the election results were being prepared in advance. He believed that the Election Commission and the state agencies were not performing their assigned duties. The JUI chief said despite all these tactics, he had full trust in the wisdom of the people of GB and hoped that they would reject the hollow slogans by the PTI leaders. He rejected the recent survey by an organization, which had put the PTI ahead of other political parties in the coming GB poll and said such false surveys would not mislead the people, adding the opposition parties would defeat the PTI candidates in the poll.

The PDM chief said the PTI government was hiding behind the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the opposition alliance would go ahead with its planned public meetings. “If the coronavirus did not spread when the [PTI] arranged public meetings at Swat, Turbat and Hafizabad, it would not when the PDM holds gatherings in Peshawar, Multan and Lahore,” he asserted. The JUI chief said the inquiry report issued recently had though named the officials who were involved in the Karachi incident but said all the episode was astonishing, adding institutions whose own members were involved in the incident had probed the happening.

Referring to the interviews given by the Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, he said there could be a difference in the interpretations of the two interviews of the heads of the two component parties of the PDM. But, he said, there was unanimity in the PDM over the fact that July 25, 2018 election was rigged and the civil and military establishment was responsible for that. “We will talk to those responsible for this, not this fake government,” he argued. The Maulana said they wanted to make the institutions realise that they should not take part in politics as this leads to a crisis in the country. The “selected” government had totally failed on the foreign affairs front, the PDM chief said.

“Pakistan relations with the close friends such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate have gone soar,” he said while elaborating on his statement. The Maulana said price-hike and corruption are at their peak and the people are sick of this “fake” government. “We will rid the nation of this fake government,” he vowed. Coming down hard on the prime minister, he said a man who could not improve his way of addressing others, how he could bring about a tabdeeli (change).

The PDM chief said there would be no change if Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from his office. “Fresh election is the need of the hour,” he went on to add. The Maulana was critical of the curbs on the media under the present government and said these were unprecedented. “The media houses are working under fear,” he lamented.