Pakistan
Maryam Nawaz congratulates Imran Khan on "losing from all four provinces"
Lahore: In the aftermath of Friday's spate of bitterly contested by-elections, Maryam Nawaz on Saturday offered facilitations to Prime Minister Imran Khan for "losing from all four provinces".
Addressing a press conference to talk about alleged irregularities and rigging in the NA 75 by-election, Maryam Nawaz took up the letter issued by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which declared that irregularities in the results of 20 polling stations is pending till further investigation. "Even the ECP has cried out over rigging. The press release by ECP is a major charge sheet against the government," she said.
In its statement, ECP had stated that polling staff from the said stations went missing and did not respond to repeated phone calls nor were their whereabouts traceable.
"One presiding officer was running away with bagfuls of votes but people caught him alonlg with [PML-N leader] Ataa Tarar," Maryam Nawaz alleged, asking where was the Punjab government and administrative when this was happening. "There were incidents of firing and two people were martyred," she added.
"We are grateful to Allah for granting us success in all three constituencies. I want to thank the people of Nowshera, Wazirabad and Daska. Yesterday, PML-N workers fought a war for the sanctity of the vote. The people have supported the narrative of respecting the vote. Our public recognises those who steal votes," she remarked, stressing that the ruling party could not even have imagined that they would lose from Nowshera. "They knew they would lose but they didn't know they would lose this badly," she stated. She further alleged that the nephews of the PTI candidate resorted to firing which resulted in two deaths. "They were losing so polling in Daska and Wazirabad was deliberately slowed down," she said, wondering what government ministers and advisors were doing inside polling stations. "They stopped polling at all stations where PML-N was winning. They picked up polling staff. We have found out that 20-22 presiding officers disappeared. Nobody knows toll now where they were taken to and by whom," Maryam Nawaz said in the charged press conference.