PTI needs much more than a few ballot bags to prove its allegations
While a number of political parties complained about rigging in several constituencies, only Imran Khan went to the extreme of challenging the entire elections, maintaining that they had been rigged systematically with an aim to stop PTI from coming to power. Khan accused former CJ Iftikhar Chaudhary and Justice (retd) Khalilur Ramday of manipulating the polls through the ROs. A number of other persons were also blamed for involvement in the alleged rigging.
While it was claimed that Imran Khan’s team had collected a truckload of evidence in support of its case, no material evidence or eyewitness account has so far been provided to the Commission that can prove the elections were not carried out in an honest or impartial manner or they were manipulated in a systematic way. Surprisingly, Imran Khan has not called former CJ Chudhary, Justice (retd) Ramday, Najam Sethi or any official of the ECP as witness to prove his case. He has failed to provide evidence to prove that there was rigging in three provinces but not in KP. Imran Khan’s case has been further damaged by the report presented by the ECP to the Commission which rejects the PTI’s claim that the General Elections were systematically manipulated or influenced by design. It has contradicted the allegations that numerous unauthorised and unlawful changes were made in the final polling scheme for constituencies and has claimed that the list of polling stations had been published well in time.
Imran Khan’s total reliance is on the ballot bags now. But these can at best establish rigging in a limited number of constituencies. The ECP has already conceded that there might have been irregularities and malpractices in individual constituencies and petitions and appeals on these had already been pending either before the Election Tribunals or the Supreme Court. What the PTI needs to establish through solid evidence is that the rigging was systematic thus affecting the outcome of the elections. The party’s lawyers need much more than a few ballot bags to prove it.
