Pakistan's poll body rejects Rawalpindi commissioner's rigging allegations

Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday rejected the allegations against the Rawalpindi Commissioner, Liaqat Ali Chatha, regarding rigging in the general election 2024, reported ARY News.
After a fractured general election mandate, Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Liaquat Ali Chatta resigned from his post on Saturday in protest against electoral irregularities, especially rigging.
According to the report, the Commissioner held a press conference at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in which he tendered his resignation, saying that he had done injustice to the people of Rawalpindi Division.
He admitted that "rigging" took place in Rawalpindi Division and took responsibility for it.
"We converted the losers into winners with a margin of 50,000 votes," he claimed, and he surrendered himself before the police.
"I apologize to the returning officers of my division," he said, adding that his subordinates were crying about what they were directed to do.
Chattha claimed that even today the election staff are affixing fake stamps on the ballot papers.
"We wronged the country...I should be executed in Rawalpindi's Kachehri Chowk," he lamented.
Stressing that he was under pressure from social media and overseas Pakistanis, the official revealed that he even attempted suicide this morning, The Express Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has rejected the allegation of rigging by the senior official.
Speaking to Geo News, Caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir said that this is neither a revelation nor a confession of the crime, this is a claim and an allegation to harm the credibility of the elections.
He said that he strongly rejects the allegations made by Chatta. Mir said that the person who talks about suicide can only be a psychopath, adding that Chatta was heading towards retirement on March 13.
"A few weeks before his retirement, he is making a political stunt. I think he wants to pursue a political career," he added.
When asked about the claims Chatta made about people working under him crying on the day of the elections, Mir said that the media did not see anyone crying.
"The things he is saying, can a normal person make these claims? Especially a person who is appointed to a commissioner's post. Why did he not come out on the day of the election when all of this was happening? Why did he remember this 10 days after the elections?" he questioned.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha has said that "stabbing the country in its back does not let" him sleep.
Following the Pakistan general elections, widespread protests have been held in Balochistan, Sindh and other parts of the country against alleged rigging in the 2024 general elections.
Meanwhile, following the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announcement to protest demonstrations in the capital, the Islamabad Deputy Commissioner refused to grant permission to hold protests on Saturday, as reported by ARY News.
The administration rejected the PTI's application, maintaining that demonstrations cannot be allowed given Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which is in force in the capital city.
Further, the administration has also asked the citizens to avoid getting involved in any political gathering.
"Islamabad police should take action against those participating in the protest demonstration," it added. The Imran Khan-led party PTI called for nationwide protests today against "rigging" in the 2024 general elections.
PTI is headed by former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in jail in cases filed against him.