The World Opinion

Tag: Election Commission Of Pakistan (ECP)

  • Amid Poll Rigging Allegations, Twitter (X) Services Down Across Pakistan; ECP Orders Probe | world news

    As Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf continue to protest claiming rigging in the national election aided by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha’s claim that he declared losers as winners by changing ballots under pressure, social media platform across Pakistan as users are facing difficulty in loading the page. Liaquat Ali Chatha also alleged that the chief election commissioner and chief justice were involved in the malpractice.

    The interruption in services is attributed to the “escalating unrest and protests” surrounding allegations of election fraud, according to the Internet tracking organization NetBlocks.

    Responding to the allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has established a high-level committee to investigate the claims of rigging made by Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha.

    In a press release issued yesterday, the electoral watchdog announced that the committee would include senior election commission officials such as the secretary, special secretary, and additional director general of law. The committee is tasked with recording statements from returning officers and district returning officers and is expected to submit a report to the commission within three days.

    Despite the rigging allegations made by former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, a group of five district returning officers, including four male officers and a female officer, rejected the claims during a press conference alongside the new Pindi Commissioner Saif Anwar. They also urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations, asserting that they were not influenced by any external pressures and conducted the polls in accordance with the Election Act and the directions provided by the electoral watchdog.

    Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa commented that baseless allegations lacking evidence hold no weightage. The chief justice made these remarks in response to claims by Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, who asserted that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice were “also completely involved” in alleged election rigging.

  • Pakistan Elections: Re-Polling Ordered At Several Booths Amid ‘Rigging’ Claims | world news

    New Delhi: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to conduct re-elections at various polling places across the country after verifying complaints of voting material being snatched and damaged, as reported by Geo News. The election authority is in the last phase of announcing the results vote as the compilation process has been going on for 48 hours, after overcoming all the challenges in holding nationwide elections on February 8.

    Geo News reported that the commission acted on the complaints from different parts of the country about incidents of voting material being snatched and damaged at various polling stations, which led the local election officials to suspend the voting processes. The top electoral body has recently announced that re-polling will be held at multiple polling stations on February 15.

    The results from these polling stations will be declared after the re-polling event is over. The following is the list of constituencies and the number of polling stations where re-polling was ordered, according to Geo News.

    NA-88 Khushab-II – Punjab Re-polling will be done at 26 polling stations after voting materials were destroyed by a mob of angry people

    PS-18 Ghotki-I –Sinh Re-polling will take place in two polling stations of the constituency after voting material was snatched by unknown individuals on February 8.

    PK-90 Kohat-I – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The ECP has ordered re-polling at 25 polling stations in the constituency due to voting material being damaged by terrorists on election day.

    The electoral body has also asked the regional election commissioner to submit a probe report within three days about the complaints of vandalism at a polling station in NA-242 Karachi Keamari-I-Sindh.

    Earlier, several parties with previous parliamentary roles had expressed doubts about the reliability of the results due to delays, despite the election commission’s assurances of releasing the official results on time. Both the caretaker government and the top electoral body have denied the allegations of intentional delay in compiling and releasing the final results.