Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah said on Monday that Imran Khan was attempting to put pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by raising allegations of rigging in Punjab by-elections won by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
“We will not allow Imran Khan to blackmail the institutions,” he said while addressing a news conference along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Nobody could question the transparency of the Punjab by-elections, which he said were free and fair. In the future, elections would be held in the same manner.
The interior minister claimed that during his tenure, Imran Khan set records for rigging by-elections. Traditionally, a losing party would complain about rigging, but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) set a new precedent by expressing complete confidence in the results of the Punjab by-elections.
Rana Sanaullah said the PML-N strongly condemned the “vile attack” launched by Imran Khan on the incumbent chief election commissioner. All the political parties including the PML-N would not let Imran Khan humiliate the heads of the institutions.
Nobody could question the transparency of the Punjab by-elections, which he said were free and fair. In the future, elections would be held in the same manner.
The interior minister claimed that during his tenure, Imran Khan set records for rigging by-elections. Traditionally, a losing party would complain about rigging, but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) set a new precedent by expressing complete confidence in the results of the Punjab by-elections.
The PML-N had brought the load-shedding to an end and made the country nuclear power, he said, vowing that the ruling party would win the next general election with a thumping majority.
He said it seemed that Imran Khan’s persistent attack on the CEC was meant to pressurize him as the decision of PTI’s foreign funding case had already been reserved. He said the institutions should not bow to Imran’s pressure and exercise their legal powers.
Recalling the episode of the Daska by-election where the PTI government allegedly abducted the election commission staff and did massive rigging, he said no major incident was reported from the Punjab where the by-polls were held in a peaceful way and its results were accepted by all the candidates.
The minister said there were 3,140 polling stations in Punjab by-polls and with the grace of God, only minor incidents were reported from seven or eight areas.
He said the PML-N introspect over losing the seats in Punjab and reviewed its overall strategy during the by-polls. It appeared that the constituents were angry with the PML-N’s candidates for not carrying out the development work in the respective constituencies.
Rana Sanaullah said Imran Khan would have dissolved the Punjab and KPK assemblies if he really wanted to hold a general election in the country.
He stated that Imran Khan was opposed to the Chief Election Commissioner because he ordered a re-election in the Daska bye-election after rigging allegations were proven by the then-PTI government.
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