ISLAMABAD:
One thing is now clear that Imran Khan will not wait for 2018 for fresh
elections. He appears to have decided to remove the Nawaz Sharif
government through street agitation.
Perhaps, he has been assured that he would be the next prime minister if the country goes for early elections.All his have been structured in a way that it is impossible to meet the demands. Except one, none of his demands has any relevance to the PML-N or its government. It was really surprising to hear him say after over one year that he does not accept the May 11, 2013 election results.
Despite his rigging charges, Imran Khan had accepted the election results in his televised speech within days after May 11, 2013. He, along with other PTI members, joined the National and provincial assemblies and had even formed his party’s government in the KPK.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could possibly only respond to Imran Khan’s first demand/question as to who had made him to make the victory speech at around 11:30pm on the election day. There may be some conspiracy involved in this act of Nawaz Sharif but the fact remains that by that time, almost all TV channels had concluded that the PML-N would be forming the next government.
Trends of the election results, as collected by media persons from polling stations, generally help suggest who is winning and who is losing hours before the formal announcement of the polls by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Regarding Imran Khan’s second question as to what role the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice (retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had played in the rigged elections, one can only lament that the former CJP has been unfairly dragged into this controversy despite the fact that he had no role in the election process in any manner.
Instead, Imran Khan was one of those politicians who had demanded of the Election Commission to hold the 2013 elections under the judiciary. The former CJP was opposed to this but after repeated requests from the-then CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Justice Iftikhar had convened a meeting of the high-powered judicial committee to allow the appointment of sessions judges as returning officers. Otherwise, the superior judiciary under Iftikhar Chaudhry had decided in 2009 never to let the judiciary get involved in the election process.
The Returning Officers for election purpose are placed under the Election Commission of Pakistan whereas being judges they come under their respective provincial chief justices and not the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Still Imran Khan has involved the ex-CJP in election rigging.
The PTI chief’s question about the role of caretaker governments in the rigged election has also no relevance to the present government. All the provincial caretaker chief executives were appointed as per the constitutional provisions. It is also a fact that at the Centre and in most of the provinces, including Punjab, the caretaker chief executives were the nominees of the PPP and its allies in the previous set-up.
With regard to the caretaker governments’ role in the rigged elections, only the Election Commission of Pakistan could say something for being the concerned authority.
Similarly, the questions as to who had made changes in the electoral rolls and why there has been massive rejection of votes during the last year’s polls, purely falls in the domain of the Election Commission of Pakistan, which is presently led by Justice Nasirul Mulk, who would be the Chief Justice of Pakistan next month.
The incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Jillani, has also been the Acting CEC for a few months after former CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim decided to quit.
Perhaps, he has been assured that he would be the next prime minister if the country goes for early elections.All his have been structured in a way that it is impossible to meet the demands. Except one, none of his demands has any relevance to the PML-N or its government. It was really surprising to hear him say after over one year that he does not accept the May 11, 2013 election results.
Despite his rigging charges, Imran Khan had accepted the election results in his televised speech within days after May 11, 2013. He, along with other PTI members, joined the National and provincial assemblies and had even formed his party’s government in the KPK.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could possibly only respond to Imran Khan’s first demand/question as to who had made him to make the victory speech at around 11:30pm on the election day. There may be some conspiracy involved in this act of Nawaz Sharif but the fact remains that by that time, almost all TV channels had concluded that the PML-N would be forming the next government.
Trends of the election results, as collected by media persons from polling stations, generally help suggest who is winning and who is losing hours before the formal announcement of the polls by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Regarding Imran Khan’s second question as to what role the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice (retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had played in the rigged elections, one can only lament that the former CJP has been unfairly dragged into this controversy despite the fact that he had no role in the election process in any manner.
Instead, Imran Khan was one of those politicians who had demanded of the Election Commission to hold the 2013 elections under the judiciary. The former CJP was opposed to this but after repeated requests from the-then CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Justice Iftikhar had convened a meeting of the high-powered judicial committee to allow the appointment of sessions judges as returning officers. Otherwise, the superior judiciary under Iftikhar Chaudhry had decided in 2009 never to let the judiciary get involved in the election process.
The Returning Officers for election purpose are placed under the Election Commission of Pakistan whereas being judges they come under their respective provincial chief justices and not the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Still Imran Khan has involved the ex-CJP in election rigging.
The PTI chief’s question about the role of caretaker governments in the rigged election has also no relevance to the present government. All the provincial caretaker chief executives were appointed as per the constitutional provisions. It is also a fact that at the Centre and in most of the provinces, including Punjab, the caretaker chief executives were the nominees of the PPP and its allies in the previous set-up.
With regard to the caretaker governments’ role in the rigged elections, only the Election Commission of Pakistan could say something for being the concerned authority.
Similarly, the questions as to who had made changes in the electoral rolls and why there has been massive rejection of votes during the last year’s polls, purely falls in the domain of the Election Commission of Pakistan, which is presently led by Justice Nasirul Mulk, who would be the Chief Justice of Pakistan next month.
The incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Jillani, has also been the Acting CEC for a few months after former CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim decided to quit.
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