‘US should increase pressure over election fraud’
A key aide of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that the jailed leader had nominated Umer Ayub Khan as a candidate in a parliamentary vote to elect a new premier following last week’s national elections.
The polls did not return a clear majority for anyone, but independent candidates backed by Khan won 92 out of 264 seats making them the largest group. Khan ruled out alliances with the three largest parties, which means his candidate currently does not have the numbers to form government.
“Umer Ayub will be our candidate for the prime minister election, he has been nominated by Imran Khan” Asad Qaiser, a senior leader of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party told journalists after meeting the former premier in prison.
Qaiser said PTI would reach out to other parties to discuss supporting Ayub’s candidature. Khan’s opponents have already announce an alliance to form a minority government.
The PTI leader called the February 8 election the worst in the country’s history, claiming that even at the global level, no one was accepting this poll. “I will contact various political parties,” he asserted. He insisted that this was the first time that an election has been shamelessly rigged.
“No one will accept this rigging,” he claimed, adding that their opponents can neither solve people’s problems nor represent the country in the world.
He also made it clear that the PTI-backed winners of the recent elections would not vacate their seats and sit in the assemblies. “A meeting of the parliamentary party will be called in a day or two,” he added.
Regrading the US, Qaiser said there was concern over Washington’s silence on rigging in the recent general election. “America acts like the voice of democracy in the whole world, but both the US and Europe have maintained silence on rigging in the elections in Pakistan,” he stressed.
He further said that they wanted to remind the US and Europe of their responsibility that the basic democratic rights of the people of Pakistan were being stolen. “We want the rule of law and the Constitution,” he remarked.
Qaiser also urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the alleged rigging, saying that representation of the people was the right of those who got votes.
‘US should increase pressure over election fraud’
Accompanying Asad Qaiser was Barrister Saif, who said America’s cosmetic statement about the elections was not enough and that the US should increase pressure on those involved in the poll fraud.
He said there was rigging and maladministration galore during the elections. “Attempts were made to exclude the PTI from the election through various tactics.”
He also conveyed Imran Khan’s special message for the US, saying the PTI founder wanted this to be highlighted and given as much weight as possible. He quoted Imran Khan as saying that the US did not fulfill its duty against the anti-PTI measures, adding that America has always patronized and imposed dictators and installed corrupt people as rulers.
Imran Khan further said that this was an opportunity for the US to rectify its past actions, adding that Washington should keep an eye on election rigging in Pakistan.
“It is America’s responsibility to raise its voice on the transparency of elections in Pakistan.”
Moreover, Saif revealed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MPA-elect Aqibullah will be the party candidate for the KP Assembly speakership.
