- PTI chief demands deployment of army personnel during by-polls in NA-154 and NA-122
- Khan says ECP has started taking measures to ensure transparent polls in future
- Says PTI to stage sit-in protest outside ECP on Oct 4
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday sought army deployment for by-polls to be held in NA-122 and NA-154 constituencies, as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sardar Raza told him that the commission’s four members have constitutional cover and could not be forced to resign on political parties’ demand.
Khan made the demand during a meeting with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Chairman Justice (r) Sardar Raza Khan at the ECP Headquarters.
Talking to reporters after meeting the CEC, the PTI chief expressed satisfaction over measures being taken by the ECP to conduct transparent polls in the future, adding that he has been assured that the mass irregularities which took place in the May 2013 general elections will not be repeated.
“They have already started working on removing loopholes from the system which I had mentioned in my letter to the ECP chief. Those irregularities resulted in the largely unfair and rigged polls of 2013,” Khan told the media.
Talking about the upcoming by-polls in NA-154 and NA-122, Imran Khan said that he has demanded the deployment of the army during the by-polls and accused the Punjab Police of acting like ‘PML-N police’ when not supervised by a tough authority.
“We want an army man inside and another outside the polling stations to ensure fair and free polls and we have set such a precedent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.
The PTI chief also said that he has requested Sardar Raza to grant an extension to election tribunal judges until the pending cases are decided. He also claimed to have urged the ECP chief to take notices of threats issued to ET Judge Kazim Malik after he deseated PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq and declared his election ‘null and void” in Lahore’s NA-122 constituency.
He said that it has been established that all parties do not trust Punjab Election Commission as it appears to be a partner of the ruling PML-N. They have no moral standing, especially after the JC report in addition to complaints from 21 parties, he said. Imran Khan said he has also demanded resignation of all four members but Sardar Raza Khan has said that commission members have constitutional appointments and he cannot do anything in this regard.
The PTI leader once again announced that his party will hold a historic rally on October 4 outside the ECP headquarters in Islamabad if the provincial EC members did not resign from their posts.
Khan said that he had also informed the CEC that the Punjab government is allegedly using state resources to influence elections in the province. He reiterated that the PML-N and PPP had collusion which resulted in 18th amendment and “they formed their own ECP and NAB.”
At the end, the PTI chief said that those who have violated party discipline will be expelled from the party.
