Imran says elections rigged through extra 5.5m ballot papers

The PTI chief said at least 5.5 million additional ballot papers were printed in 2013 general elections. The rigging was carried out through extra ballot papers, he claimed.

“Each and every person involved in the rigging should be tried and asked their motive behind trampling upon rights of millions of Pakistanis,”  he told a press conference in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should resign on grounds that he is beneficiary of the rigging and fair probe under him could not be conducted. “We will never accept probe under PM Nawaz Sharif as he is the main beneficiary of rigging.”

He said: “Those who stole people’s mandate are no different than that who come to power through 111 brigade.”

The purpose of sit-ins, he said, was to hold elements involved in rigging accountable and punish them as per law.

Khan said the additional ballot papers were dispatched to specific constituencies with a purpose of rigging. He once again expressed his surprise that how Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz bagged 10.5 million extra votes contrary to earlier ones reported at the conclusion of polling on May 11, 2013.

We didn’t know that ex-chief justice was also involved in the rigging of last elections, said Imran Khan. “We were told [from the then CJ] that justice will be served to us in four months, but to no avail,” he regretted.

Khan said: “Hundreds of our election petitions were dismissed on minor objections like those of full stops, coma and unimportant flaws.”

When there was no ray of hope for justice, we lodged first protest after a year, he said.

He added that ‘even post-poll rigging was conducted in the country’.

He said Zardari-led PPP destroyed Sindh in its tenure from 2008-13 and it surprisingly got more votes in 2013 elections that even (late) Benazir could not bagged.

To a question, he said third umpire is the Almighty Allah as no other force could arrange such a long sit-in on earth.