Elections 2013 were hijacked: Ch Parvez Elahi

Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League-Q senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ch Parvez Elahi has said that Elections 2013 were hijacked, judicial commission should be constituted to try hijackers for breaking the Constitution and given exemplary punishment so that nobody dares to trample the mandate of the people.

He said this while addressing a press conference at the Muslim League House here today. Kamil Ali Agha, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Muhammad Basharat Raja, Ch Zaheeruddin Khan, Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Ahmad Yar Heraj, Dr Azeemuddin Zahid Lakhvi, Ch Altaf Hussain, Qamar Hauat Kathia, Muhammad Khan Leghari, Seemal Kamran, Syeda Majida Zaidi, Kanwal Nasim and other leaders were also present.

Ch Parvez Elahi said holding of election was taken over by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry instead of the Chief Election Commissioner and announcement of the results by Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, election staff and the returning officers were being controlled from April by some people including a “veiled personality” (pardanasheen) sitting in GOR Lahore, biggest target of rigging was Punjab and our party, our votes were rejected and our 44 seats snatched away, our party was first to raise voice against rigging in the last bye-election held on December 4, 2014 and again in the general elections of 2013.

Earlier meeting of PML MNAs, MPAs, Senators, leaders and legal experts was held under the chairmanship of PML President and former Prime Minister Senator Ch Shujat Hussain at his residence here. In the meeting it was unanimously decided regarding May 11 that PML extends full moral support to the protest of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and mission of Dr Tahirul Qadri and PML delegations would also participate in their rallies/protest.

Ch Parvez Elahi said that by involving the judiciary in the election process the former Chief Justice of Pakistan had openly violated the Judicial Policy of 2009 issued with his signatures that in future, judiciary will not be involved in the judicial process, not only this instead of the Chief Election Commissioner the Chief Justice had been giving verbal and written instructions to the Returning Officers, the Chief Election Commissioner had announced on March 28, 2013 after meeting with delegations of all political parties that all institutions should refrain from interference in the elections but the former Chief Justice by issuing a special letter from District to Assistant Returning Officers started interfering in the election contrary to the direction of the Chief Election Commissioner who was responsible for holding of the election under the Constitution, held closed doors meetings and addressed returning officers by visiting Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta on which the lawyers bodies including Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association had strongly protested whereas after the elections, commendation certificates and shields were given to the Returning Officers on successfully performing “special duties” entrusted by the former Chief Justice.

He said further that after holding of the elections by the Chief Justice instead of the Chief Election Commissioner, the task of announcing the election results was assumed by Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif and just when counting was completed only on 15 to 20 per cent polling stations that they announced at 11.30 p.m. that “we have won, N-League emerging as the biggest party is confirmed and more better results would come by the morning because I want that we should not have to rely upon anyone for assuming the govt”.

Continuing, Ch Parvez Elahi said that all this work was being done in the rooms of the Returning Officers and entry of the candidates there was prohibited, “I have been contesting elections since 1985 but never entry has been banned”, in the history of the elections record number of votes were rejected this time and through this action only our party Pakistan Muslim League (PML) was deprived of 15 seats of the National Assembly and 29 provincial seats whereas FAFEN also said in its report fully supporting our stance that by changing the polling stations in the last days without information results of 93 constituencies of the National Assembly were affected while the time for polling was unilaterally extended, N-League’s fake votes were also counted and in Sargodha on one polling station of Nawaz Sharif 8000 votes were counted whereas total votes there were just 1530.

Ch Parvez Elahi said that after being heartbroken over such big rigging, Chief Election Commissioner Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim had resigned his office three years ahead of completion of his tenure. He said major proof about connivance between the former Chief Justice and Sharif Brothers that he had not allowed hearing of disqualification case against Shahbaz Sharif despite leave grant. He said that bags of the votes were not being opened that lest their rigging may be fully exposed.

In reply to a question about involvement of Najam Sethi in the election rigging, he said that the caretaker Chief Minister has no role in the election. Regarding dearness of essential and other articles, unemployment, load shedding of gas and electricity, crime and increase in other problems of the people, he said that the govt which was product of the rigging can never solve the problems of the people.