Senate echoes with calls for chief election commissioner’s resignation, arrest

The Senate on Tuesday was echoed with calls from members for the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja over alleged rigging in the general elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Taking part in the debate of elections 2024, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad demanded immediate resignation of the election commissioner, saying those who committed rigging are “criminals” in the eyes of public and the Constitution. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has miserably failed to hold free and fair elections, he added.

Senator Mushtaq said a judicial commission should be constituted to probe the rigging allegations and also investigate all institutions.

Senator Mushtaq called on the ECP to “apologise”, for CEC Sikander Sultan Raja to resign and for proceedings under Article 6 (treason) to be initiated against him.

The JI leader said the situation was different on February 8, which took a “180 degree turn” the very next day.

Senator Mushtaq commended party leader Hafiz Naeem for forfeiting the seat he won in Sindh as he had not won in the constituency. He further said that Afghans had won in the elections, lamenting that non-Pakistani nationals would be sitting in the assemblies.

The senator said that is why voices were clamouring that the polls “had been sold” and were pre-decided. He said that those who did rigging were “criminals” and were responsible for spreading hate in the country. “Elections are conducted to rid countries of crisis, but what kind of election is this which has pushed us into a new crisis. International institutions are saying that democracy is declining in the country,” he said and added “The bullet has kidnapped the ballot.”

He said mobile phone and internet services were shut down. “At that moment, it was evident that polls were not free, fair or transparent,” he said. He said X services had been shut down. “Why were internet and mobile services shut down on Feb 8 polls? Why is X being restricted for three days?”

Mushtaq went on to say, “Rigging has taken place. You are not facing it. You are fearful.” He said the shutdown of X was causing educational harm and was an attack on people’s digital rights. He called for the restoration of all social media platforms.

Senator Tahir Bizenjo

On his part, National Party’s Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo called for the arrest of chief elections commissioner and demanded his trial for violating the Constitution.

Senator Ali Zafar

PTI’s Senator Ali Zafar warned that the situation would take a “plunge” if their mandate was not returned to them. “I fear the situation will spin out of control. Anarchy would spread if the public’s mandate is stolen,” he added.

Senator Waleed Iqbal

Taking his turn, PTI Senator Waleed Iqbal termed the entire electoral process “tainted”. He said the shutting down of mobile phone and internet services had invited criticism from abroad. He said the caretaker government and the ECP would have to prove that there was no “malice” in this regard. He further asked about the whereabouts of the Form 45, noting that the chief election commissioner had directed to release all results till 2am on election night.

Waleed said that the international community had also criticised the conduct of the polls.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui

PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui maintained that there were no two opinions that the history of elections in the country was “not pleasant”. He said at the same time if elections were controversial then that did not mean that one Form 45 was correct while another was not. “Do not imbalance the scale like this,” he added.

Irfan Siddiqui said that if rigging had taken place, they had taken place across the board, not just in one province.

Talking about the 2018 polls, the PML-N senator recalled “What was wrong then is wrong now.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjxMWCREHAk

Irfan Siddiqui invited PTI to form a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but sit on the opposition benches at the Centre. He suggested the PTI to forget the philosophy and thinking of May 9, make strategy on February 8 elections and end the politics of chaos and come up with a positive democratic and parliamentary role.

He said the PTI was repeating the history of 2013 and 2018, first Afzal Khan, this time bringing Commissioner Sahib.

The election results were in line with what Gallup Pakistan had predicted in a survey conducted a month before the election.

Irfan Siddiqui said, “Your Form 45 is pure and our Form 45 is impure. Why was there no rigging in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Have the elections been conducted by Imam-e-Kaaba or by Imam Abu Hanifah?

“Whatever had happened in the 2018 general elections is a dark chapter in the history of our country. A lot happened back then and maybe the same has happened this year as well. “And if the same happened again, then it took place across the country and not just in Punjab or Balochistan. It happened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well,” he said.

The irregularities, he continued, took place everywhere. “And if you suffered from it, so did we,” Siddiqui stressed.

“It isn’t fair to say that no rigging took place where you won and vice versa,” he said, recalling that all the allegations levelled by the PTI today were similar to the “injustices” the PML-N faced in 2018.

Referring to the PTI’s recent talks with the JUI-F, Senator Irfan questioned why the Imran-led party does not hold a dialogue with other parties. “Come to the Parliament and register your protest […] it is time that the politics of confrontation ends,” he added.

Resolution for production orders

A resolution was submitted in the Senate on Tuesday requesting the chair to issue the production orders of Senator Ejaz Chaudhry who is in police custody, so that he can attend the farewell sessions of the Senate.

The resolution was moved by Senator Ali Zafar which carried signatures of 27 members of the upper house of the parliament.

Reporters Awais Kiyani and Rozina Ali