Imran Khan demands resignation of CEC after PMO audio leaks

Lahore: Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Monday demanded Chief Election Commissioner Saikandar Sultan Raja to resign from his post after the appearance of audio leaks that allegedly carried conversations between key officials in the coalition government.

"The leaks has made it apparent that the CEC is a servant of the Sharif household," Khan said while addressing a gathering at Government College University (GCU) in Lahore. 

He said in the audio leaks Nawaz was telling him [CEC] who should be disqualified and when to hold elections.

Audio recordings of purported conversations between key government figures, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz and some members of the federal cabinet, discussing governance matters privately surfaced over the weekend, prompting concerns over the security of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The PTI chief alleged that the CEC had blocked the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) on the instructions of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

“I kept on trying to introduce EVMs for three years, but this man, on the instructions of Nawaz and Zardari, who rely on false votes, did not allow EVMs,” he claimed.

Targeting Maryam Nawaz, the PTI chief referred to one of the audio recordings purportedly featuring a conversation between PM Shehbaz and an unidentified official about the possibility of facilitating the import of Indian machinery for a power project that was linked to the PML-N vice president’s son-in-law.

Lambasting the PML-N, particularly PM Shehbaz, Imran said that his government had ended trade ties with India after New Delhi had revoked occupied Kashmir’s special autonomy in August 2019.

“There are still no ties, but Maryam’s son-in-law [intends] to procure machinery from India,” Imran continued, adding: “And what is prime minister cherry blossom’s response? He suggests that they bring the machinery via another country instead of telling them not to import it at all.”

The PTI stalwart further claimed that PM Shehbaz had also assured Maryam’s son-in-law that he would not face any obstacles in constructing a grid station worth Rs700 million at one of his housing societies.

He was told that the grid station would be “financed by money from the Pakistani taxpayers”, the PTI chief claimed.