Pak polls: EC rejects rigging allegations; PML-N warns of protests

July 26, 2018 08:33

The Election Commission of Pakistan has rejected the "blatant" rigging allegations levelled by the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after trends showed Imran Khan's party was inching towards majority, saying it did "our job right."

In an unusual press conference at 4am local time, Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in the election process.

He, however, acknowledged that the delay in announcement of election results has "caused some annoyance".

The short pace of counting has given currency to the allegations of manipulation of the election process. The results were expected by this morning, but the CEC only announced what he called was the "first non-official, preliminary result".

The CEC stressed the delay was on account of a new system -- Results Transmission System -- introduced by it.

"We were implementing it for the first time. Therefore, there was some delay," Dawn online quoted him as saying.

Asked about the doubts and the allegations, he said: "We will prove ourselves that we did our job right."

The early-morning press conference came hours after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore outrightly rejected the results, alleging "blatant" rigging of the election, even though the vote count was under way.

Sharif warned his party would launch protests against the alleged rigging. He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's powerful military.

"Some five other parties including PPP have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," he told journalists at the press conference in Lahore. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Bibhav Kumar sent to 5-day police custody in Maliwal assault case

It noted the prosecution's submissions about the need to take Kumar to Mumbai and other parts of the national capital to collect evidence, which was not possible without the accused's custody.

AAP workers marching towards BJP HQ detained, Sec 144 imposed

The traffic police also issued an advisory in view of the protest planned outside the BJP office at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, while entry and exit have been disallowed at the nearest ITO metro station.

Factors that will guide the markets this week

The last batch of quarterly earnings, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors will guide the equity market movement in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Volatility may continue amid investors' cautious...

'God's plan, baby': Yash Dayal redeems himself

Yash Dayal had the haunting memory of Rinku Singh's five consecutive sixes last year when Mahendra Singh Dhoni lofted his full-toss over the Chinnaswamy stadium roof in Saturday's crucial IPL match in Bengaluru.

Golden Girl Sobhita

After choosing the royal colour, Sobhita Dhulipala turned it up a notch higher and went for gold for her second appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.