NA speaker says won’t step down from office as Khan had failed in presenting any evidence of rigging against him in court
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Saturday dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s allegations of widespread rigging in NA-122 elections, saying that he had scored more votes than the cricketer-turned-politician in the recounting conducted by an enquiry commission.
Addressing reporters after appearing before Election Tribunal Judge Kazim Malik, Sadiq took a jab at Imran Khan, saying that the PTI chief’s grievances against him stemmed from an incident at a hockey match nearly five decades ago when he had mistakenly hit Khan in the face with a hockey stick.
“50 years ago, I played a match of hockey against Imran Khan. My stick accidentally hit his face. I believe it is time he forgives me,” he said.
Sadiq denied that any rigging had taken place in NA-122. “We are leading with 8,000 votes in the constituency.” He thanked his voters and throngs of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supporters who had gathered outside the tribunal in his support.
“I am not going to give a political speech here,” Sadiq said. “I have been under a media trial for 128 days and there is no proof of rigging.”
In an earlier recounting, some 30,000 bogus votes were discovered along with an unspecified quantity of ballot papers for NA-124 following the inspection of 284 polling stations in the National Assembly constituency of NA 122. PTI rejected the development and asked for Sadiq’s resignation.
During Saturday’s hearing, Sadiq submitted a two-page-long statement which said that his rival candidate had failed in presenting any evidence of rigging in the NA-122 constituency.
Sadiq further said that the people of Pakistan voted for him and he will continue to work for their betterment, rejecting demands from the PTI to step down from office.
