Terming the entire exercise of Sunday’s by-elections on 21 national and provincial seats “fraudulent”, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced organising a nationwide protest against “by-poll rigging” on Friday (April 26).
PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, addressing a press conference alongside other leaders including Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, termed the by-elections “fraudulent” — a major electoral event after the February 8 nationwide polls.
He also alleged the suspension of internet and mobile services was one of the tactics for “rigging” the electoral process. Khan also claimed that a PML-N candidate secured more votes than Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the by-elections which was a pure example of poll result “manipulation”.
The politico urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) not to notify results in those constituencies where rigging complaints had been lodged besides demanding the top electoral body launch a thorough probe.
