Pakistan's CEC, Chief Justice involved in poll-rigging, alleges senior bureaucrat as he resigns

Islamabad: A senior Pakistani bureaucrat on Saturday alleged that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice were involved in poll-rigging in the recent election as he resigned from his post, taking the "responsibility for all this wrongdoing".

Former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha's remarks came amidst jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party began nationwide protests against alleged rigging and stealing of its mandate in the February 8 elections.

Speaking to reporters at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Chattha said the candidates who were "losing" the elections "were made to win".

"I am taking the responsibility for all this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved in this," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

Chattha resigned from his office after "accepting responsibility" for manipulation of poll results, it said.

He said "stabbing the country in its back does not let" him sleep.

"I should be punished for the injustice I have done and others who were involved in this injustice should also be punished," Chattha said.

The former bureaucrat said there was "pressure" on him to the extent that he contemplated suicide but then resolved to present matters before the public.

"It is my request to the entire bureaucracy to not do anything wrong for all these politicians," he said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has strongly rejected the allegations Chattha has made against the chief election commissioner.

In a press statement, it said, "The Election Commission of Pakistan strongly rejects the allegations levelled by the Commissioner Rawalpindi on the chief election commissioner or the election commission and no official of the election commission never issued any instructions regarding changing the election results to the Commissioner Rawalpindi.

"Neither is the commissioner of any division ever appointed as a District Returning Officer, Returning Officer or Presiding Officer nor do they ever play a direct role in the conduct of elections."

However, it said that the matter would be investigated.

Punjab's caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has also ordered an "impartial probe" into the allegations made by Chattha.

Taking notice of the claims in a statement, he directed that a "high-level committee" be constituted to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

"An independent inquiry of the allegations will be held," Naqvi asserted, adding that the facts will be brought forward.

Following Chatta's press conference, police reached the venue and arrested him. He has been shifted to an unknown location by the security officials.

"Shocking revelation from the current Pindi Commissioner, admitting to unbearable pressure to rig the elections, pushing him close to suicide. Categorically blames CEC and CJP as part of the crime," PTI senior leader and Khan's close aide Zulfi Bokhari said on X.

"The entire Pindi Division's elections have been rigged, rendering them null and void. If this has happened here, one can only imagine the situation in less prominent divisions. These elections cannot be considered valid or acceptable to anyone, including those involved in the rigging," Bokhari posted.

The Human Rights Council of Pakistan said in a statement that the involvement of the state bureaucracy in rigging in Pakistan is beginning to be exposed.

"The chief commissioner of Rawalpindi, the most important city of Pakistan, has resigned from his post and handed himself over to the police, admitting to rigging the elections. This is not a mere resignation or admission of guilt, it is a charge sheet of incompetence and negligence on the part of all govt institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan," it said.

The Council asked who kept forcing the officials of the bureaucracy to do illegal work by applying pressure.

"Now the nation of Pakistan is looking towards the Supreme Court of Pakistan for justice. If Rawalpindi has been rigged so much, think how widely rigged the general elections must have been in the entire country. General elections in Pakistan have become non-transparent and controversial. The mandate of the people of Pakistan has been stolen. We demand that those who stole the nation's mandate should be held accountable," it said.

The Punjab government claimed that the commissioner was mentally sick and he would be given "treatment according to his mental state".

Meanwhile, Chattha's claims have triggered a massive storm in Pakistan's political circuit.

In a post on X, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) said "political allegiance" dictated Rawalpindi's former commissioner's claims of polling rigging, adding that the bureaucrat was the cousin of a PTI-backed candidate for the MNA seat, Ahmed Chattha.

PML-N Punjab president Rana Sanaullah Khan alleged that his "friend" Chattha has had mental health issues for "quite some time".

"I think that in that regard there was some treatment underway," Sanaullah said while speaking to Geo News.

Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir also "rejected" the claims of manipulation of election results made by Chattha.

Speaking to Geo News, he said that Chattha had "not shown any proof" of the alleged tampering of poll results.

Noting that the commissioner was retiring on March 13, Mir said, "I imagine he's trying to kick start his political career after he retires."

Meanwhile, PTI's Ali Muhammad appreciated Chattha for coming forward on the alleged polling rigging and said that the former commissioner proved that the bureaucracy's conscience was "still alive".

He said that it was time for the chief justice to take notice of PTI's "stolen mandate" and for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to "correct" his mistake by helping them get their mandate back. He alleged that more than 170 seats were taken from PTI through poll rigging.

Besides PTI, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), and others have also complained of rigging during the elections.

Independent candidates - a majority backed by the PTI party - won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats that were contested in the February 8 election.

However, PTI's two main rivals appear on course to form a coalition government after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) formed a post-poll alliance on Tuesday.

The PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has also agreed to support them with their 17 seats.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.