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Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaqat Ali Chattha has announced his resignation after claiming that the general elections 2024 were rigged in his division.
While holding a press conference at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Liaqat Ali Chattha said, “I did injustice in Rawalpindi Division during the elections. We changed the losing margins to 50 thousand leads, 13 MNAs of Rawalpindi Division were losing, they got 70 thousand leads and toyed with the country.”
Accepting responsibility of election rigging in Rawalpindi Division and handing himself over to the police, he announced resigning from my post. “I should be given the death penalty in Rawalpindi’s Kachehri Chowk,” he remarked.
He said that Election Commission of Pakistan, Chief Election Commissioner and Chief Justice of Pakistan are also involved in the rigging of the election. “These people should also resign from their positions.”
He said “I was under pressure from social media and overseas Pakistanis, I tried to commit suicide this morning after Fajr prayer, then I thought why not? Let me put all the things in front of the people, why should I die a forbidden death, I am going through grief and political people are going around to become ministers after wearing a sherwani, the stabbing in the back of the country does not let me sleep, I want to remove the burden of my grief. I want a peaceful death.”
However Caretaker Information Minister Punjab Aamir Mir vehemently denied the allegations of Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaquat Ali Chatta and called it a political stunt.
The Commissioner was due for retirement in just three weeks.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will hit the streets today at 12pm across the country to protest against what they claim is rigging and tampering with election results from February 8th.
Major parties that won the most seats have been looking for allies and making alliances to form the next governments at both the national and provincial levels.
The PTI expressed disappointment with the election results, where its affiliated candidates won over 90 National Assembly seats, making them the largest group. They announced plans to hold peaceful protests countrywide against what they called “record-high rigging” in the recent general elections.
“The PTI has called for country-wide protests against the unprecedented, massive, brazen rigging in general elections 2024, where PTI’s win of 180 National Assembly seats and a two-thirds majority in the parliament, was cut down to half,” the party said in a statement.
As confusion around the formation of the government rages, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Faisal Karim Kundi has said that if his party had chosen to sit in opposition, the country would’ve gone towards another election.”The PPP will stay in Parliament for constructive criticism,” he stated.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Kundi said PPP will contest the seats of Senate Chairman and Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), adding that PPP will also help Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) form a government in the centre.
The politician also urged all political parties to work together for political stability in Pakistan.
India’s main opposition Congress party said on Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax department just weeks before the expected announcement of national elections.
Critics and rights groups have accused India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using law enforcement agencies to selectively target its political foes.
Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the action against his party was aimed at sidelining it ahead of the polls.
“When the principal opposition party’s accounts have been frozen just two weeks before the announcement of the national elections, do you think democracy is alive in our country?” he asked reporters.
“Don’t you think it is going towards one party system?” he added.
Four of Congress’s accounts had been frozen after an investigation of the party’s 2018-19 income tax returns, Maken said.
He added that the tax department had issued a payment demand for 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) in relation to its probe.
Maken conceded that the party had filed its returns late by up to 45 days but insisted it had done nothing to warrant such a penalty.
“Today is a sad day for Indian democracy,” he said, adding that the party was appealing the decision in court and would stage public protests.
India’s Congress party spokesman Ajay Maken addresses a press conference at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on February 16. — AFP
Friday’s announcement follows numerous legal sanctions and active investigations against leading opponents of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, scion of the dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was convicted of criminal libel last year after a complaint by a member of Modi’s party.
His two-year prison sentence saw him disqualified from parliament for a time until the verdict was suspended by a higher court, but raised concerns over democratic norms in the world’s most populous country.
‘Face the consequences’
Congress is a member of an opposition party alliance hoping to challenge Modi at this year’s polls, and other leading figures in the bloc have also found themselves under investigation.
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and chief minister of the capital region Delhi, has repeatedly been summoned by investigators probing alleged corruption in the allocation of liquor licences.
Earlier this month police arrested Hemant Soren, until then the chief minister of eastern Jharkhand state and another leading figure in the opposition alliance, for allegedly facilitating an illegal land sale.
India’s main financial investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has ongoing probes against at least four other chief ministers or their families, all of whom belong to the BJP’s political opponents.
Other investigations have been dropped against erstwhile BJP rivals who later switched their allegiance to the ruling party.
Virendra Sachdeva, president of the BJP’s Delhi branch, said on Friday that Congress had only itself to blame for the freezing of its accounts.
“It is unfortunate that a big party like Congress is not following government rules,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.
“If it is not following the rules, then it has to face the consequences. “
In the politics of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), the Urdu letter “Ain” holds immense importance.
PTI founder Imran Khan has nominated Omar Ayub Khan, whose name starts with “Ain,” as the prime ministerial candidate.
PTI also nominated Ali Amin Gandapur, whose name also starts with “Ain,” as the party candidate for the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
There are interesting and funny comments about this on social media, reminding us that Imran also begins with Ain, Usman Buzdar with Ain, Arif Alvi, Omar Ayub, and Ali Amin Gandapur all start with Ain.
During PTI government, speculation was rife that Bushra Bibi asked Iman Khan to appoint a person whose name starts with ‘Ain’ as the chief minister of Punjab. After that, the PTI founder chose Usman Buzdar.
The Senior Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Maryam Nawaz, received a briefing on development projects in Punjab. The PML-N nominated Maryam Nawaz as their choice for the province’s chief minister.
Zahid Akhtar Zaman, the Chief Secretary of Punjab, briefed the PML-N leader after she was nominated for the top provincial position.
According to sources in Geo News, the provincial chief secretary went to Jatti Umrah on Thursday to brief Maryam and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on the current situation in Punjab.
During a meeting, Zaman explained the ongoing projects as well as the law and order situation in the province.
Maryam Nawaz won a National Assembly (NA) and a Provincial Assembly seat in the general elections.
The party’s stalwart was elected by voters on PP-159 and NA-119, respectively.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Thursday that the no confidence motion against Imran Khan’s government was tabled in the National Assembly on the directive of former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa.
In an interview on SAMMA, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that “I was personally against the no-confidence move […] but if I had said no despite the insistence of other parties, then an impression would’ve been given that I ‘saved’ the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.”
Fazl, during the interview, said: “While the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was running the movement for a no-confidence motion, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid told me that I could do whatever I wanted, but within the system.”
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) removed Imran Khan from government in April 2022 and then a multi-party alliance ruled the country for 16 months before handing over the power to the caretaker set-up.
Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Barrister Gohar Khan, has announced plans for a peaceful protest nationwide on Saturday (Feb 17) to highlight what he perceives as the “marginalization” of the PTI.
“We are extending invitations to all political parties, including the GDA, JI, JUI-F, TLP, ANP, or any other party that shares our concerns regarding the change in mandate and electoral rigging,” he stated.
Gohar emphasized the peaceful nature of the protest and urged the public to join in. “These elections were crucial, and we are determined not to let our mandate be usurped,” he asserted.
Regarding speculation about talks with the PPP, Gohar dismissed such reports.
Furthermore, he announced that Mian Aslam will be PTI’s candidate for the position of Punjab’s chief minister. He also revealed Salar Khan as the candidate for Balochistan chief minister and Aqibullah Khan as the nominee for the speaker of the KP Assembly.
Gohar assured the media that announcements of candidates for National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker would follow soon.
As per Sher Azal Marwat, Imran Khan asked him to tell Pakistanis that their freedom has been taken away from them. He further added that if rigging can be done this way then the public won’t even have the power to vote in upcoming elections.
He said, “The vote was stolen so that a criminal money laundering syndicate could be imposed on Pakistan.”
Imran Khan also said that there can be no financial stability without political stability and remittances from overseas Pakistanis can stabilize Pakistan.
Refuting rumors of forming a government with the PML-N, PPP, PTI-B and MQM-P, Gohar reiterated PTI’s commitment to not engage in power-sharing with these parties. He emphasized that PTI’s politics revolve around serving the public and upholding the mandate and democracy.
“We will continue to offer strong opposition until we secure the full mandate, although we are in a position to form governments in Punjab, KP, and at the Centre,” Gohar asserted.
He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan and the judiciary to expedite the PTI’s cases and address what he termed as “fake mandate,” claiming that PTI had won 180 seats according to their records.
Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) leader Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan has formally apologised for slapping a police officer during the general elections.
In a hearing held at the Election Commission, chaired by Nisar Durrani, Awan expressed regret for the incident and sought forgiveness in a written statement submitted to the commission. The affected police officer also submitted a written response during the hearing.
During the inquiry, a member of the Election Commission questioned Awan, asking who she thought she was to take the law into her own hands.
Awan responded to the inquiry by stating that she apologizes for her actions, clarifying that the polling stations were in a chaotic state and that she was merely trying to ensure order.
She further stated that the police were a passive spectator and she felt threatened by the crowd.
The incident, which sparked widespread criticism on social media, has been under scrutiny by the Election Commission.
The commission has stated that it will issue further directives regarding the hearing at a later date.
On February 12, Awan said that she slapped a police officer as the person in uniform was facilitating one political party on election day. The IPP leader also said that if the law does not take its course, then citizens will teach corrupt police officers a lesson. The video was widely slammed on social media, with users calling out the IPP leader for resorting to violence.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is ready to engage in discussions with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) regarding the formation of government at the center, Geo News has reported on Thursday.
PPP leader Kasim Gillani wrote in a post on his X (previously Twitter) that “Imran Khan’s call for talks with PPP, Pakistan’s sole political party with representation across all four provinces, the senate, and the National Assembly, is a positive and welcome change.”
PTI leader and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, said that PTI’s senior leader, Omar Ayub Khan, will be the party’s candidate for Prime Minister.
Asad Qaiser also said that the PTI founder tasked him to talk to other political parties that are protesting against rigging in general elections. He also said, Imran Khan gave permission to talk with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The former speaker also said that the general election was completely rigged and no one will accept this election.
Imran Khan’s call for talks with PPP, Pakistan’s sole political party with representation across all four provinces, the senate, and National Assembly, is a positive and welcome change.
