ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Disgruntled political parties would attend an All Parties Conference (APC) on Friday to decide the future course of action against the alleged outright rigging and irregularities on the part of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in elections held on July 25.
The President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahbaz Sharif and the Chief of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Maulana Fazlur Rehman called the APC, which would also likely be attended by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), for developing a consensus on the demand to declare general elections 2018 results null and void.
In its Central Executive Committee (CEC) held at Model Town in Lahore on Thursday with Shahbaz Sharif in the Chair, the PML-N decided against boycotting the Parliament as to register a strong protest against alleged rigging, and play an aggressive role in the National Assembly as an opposition party.
Will b co-hosting an All-Parties Conference (APC) today to discuss incidence of serious poll irregularities on Election Day. Glad that all political forces understand their responsibility to protect people’s basic right. ECP failed miserably to hold fair, free & transparent polls
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 27, 2018
The MMA also didn’t accept the election results, and forwarded a demand to declare them null and void while the PPP though didn’t categorically reject the election results but raised questions over the electoral process and ECP’s credibility as the latter had failed to meet its Constitutional responsibility.
Meanwhile, the Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik has written a letter to the ECP, in which, he stated that the Election Commission must reply to the questions raised by the Committee, Political Parties and the Candidates, which included that what were the reasons behind the failures of Result Transmission System (RTS) and MRS systems?
The Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior said that the non-provision of Form 45 has raised many questions. He said that it has been complained that the agents of Parties and Candidates were kept out while counting the votes.
“Doesn’t the absence of polling agents during the counting of the votes make the process doubtful,” Rehman Malik questioned.
