RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: The former Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Liaqat Ali Chatha – who recently alleged that February 8 elections were massively rigged and he had instructed Returning Officers (ROs) to indulge in malpractices – has now apologized to the Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for his false accusations.
“I feel extremely ashamed and embarrassed for making totally false, concocted, anti-state and malicious statement in the press conference,” Liaqat Ali Chatha said in his confession statement before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The former Commissioner Rawalpindi – who had reportedly been missing since his resignation and startling allegations – also alleged that he was offered a lucrative post by a prominent leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a meeting in Lahore on February 11, 2024 to support the party’s narrative on elections rigging and malign the state institutions.
سابق کمشنر راولپنڈی لیاقت چٹھہ نے 2018 کے انتخابات کے بعد پی ٹی آئی سے تعلقات، 9 مئی واقعات کے بعد ملزمان کی مدد، 8 فروری کے انتخابات میں دھاندلی کے تمام الزامات اپنے اور پی ٹی آئی کے سر لے لیے pic.twitter.com/9ArLtDEtyi
— Aamir Saeed Abbasi (@AmirSaeedAbbasi) February 22, 2024
The former Commissioner said that the name of the Chief Justice was taken with the aim of creating mistrust in general public against him. He said that the aims behind naming the Chief Justice were to help PTI in creating the momentum against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and to tarnish the credibility of the entire election process through the Country.
Chatha also said that after the May 9 incidents, he discreetly helped the above mentioned prominent PTI leader on various issues as the latter had been declared a Proclaim Offender and was in hiding.