‘Turned Losers into Winners’: Pak Polling Official Admits to Rigging Rawalpindi Results, Resigns

Pakistani polling official from Rawalpindi Liaquat Ali Chatta on Saturday admitted he rigged the election results. “We made the independent candidates lose who were winning [the election] with a lead of 70,000-80,000 votes by putting on fake stamps,” Chatta said.

“I am taking the responsibility for all this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved in this,” the polling official said, adding that the Chief Election Commissioner and the Pakistan Chief Justice were involved in the act.

“We convert the losers into winners with a 50,000 votes margin. I did injustice to the people of Rawalpindi Division,” he further added.

Chatta dismissed the term ‘irregularities’ and said steps were taken to turn winning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed (PTI) independents into losers. He said he resigned from his role because he did not want to take part in the breaking apart of a nation.

The PTI demanded the immediate resignation of the Pakistan chief election commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. “The Chief Election Commissioner must immediately resign after this statement by Commissioner Rawalpindi. NA and PP seats have been massively rigged!” PTI said in a post on social media site X.

Pakistan held elections on February 8 amid a political and economical crisis while also battling terrorism in several areas of the nation. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif was considered the Pakistan Army’s favourite in the absence of jailed rival PTI chief Imran Khan, whose electoral symbol was also banned by the Pakistan Supreme Court.

The Pakistan Army is known for meddling with the country’s electoral process. PML-N ally Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) also threw a spanner in the coalition discussions after claiming that the mandate was stolen from PTI following directions from the Pakistan Army.

However, after the election results were declared no clear winner emerged but PTI candidates, forced to fight as independents because of no electoral symbol, emerged with the largest vote percentage followed by the PML-N. PML-N staked claim to power but is struggling to bring together allies to form a government in the centre. Few PTI-backed candidates joined the PML-N but despite that PML-N is falling short of the magic number.

Meanwhile, allegations of widespread rigging were reported and many parties including the PTI said there was widespread rigging in many constituencies because of which PML-N could win seats where PTI was the clear winner.