Shehbaz demands parliamentary commission to probe election rigging

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Friday demanded to form a parliamentary committee to probe allegations of rigging in the general elections.

“In the history or Pakistan, this parliament was created by rigging. We could not celebrate Independence Day due to rigging,” he said in a chaotic speech in the National Assembly amid ruckus and sloganeering by PML-N members.

Shehbaz Sharif said the Election Commission failed miserably in conducting free and fair elections. “From Chitral to Karachi, the RTS (Result Transmission System) was switched off at 11PM,” he said questioning why the election results were withheld for three days.

He said the election was marred by misconduct including not providing Form 45, slow pace of polling, issuing results on loose slips, and an outstanding 1.6 million votes were rejected. He said that cases were also lodged against 16,800 workers of their party including terrorism cases.

“The nation has rejected the election results,” he said, adding that the scale of rigging was vast and several political parties have raised their reservations.

He demanded that a parliamentary commission should be formed to probe the alleged rigging, an audit should be conducted by a third-party, and a report should be presented within thirty days.

He said they will not rest until answers are not received, and a campaign will be launched otherwise, and they will resort to the streets if their rights are not safeguarded by the parliament.

He asked if Imran Khan will also resign if the allegations are proven, similarly as he had called for then prime minister Nawaz Sharif to step down over the allegations.

“We have not come to defend a parliament marred by rigging. We have come to defend democratic values,” he said, adding they will not attack or curse the esteemed parliament.

The PML-N President was instead forced to cut short his speech by the Speaker National Assembly and did not proceed in protest before being taken over by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.