Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif has demanded legal action be taken against the officers involved in the Daska by-election fraud in a letter written to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
In the letter, Shehbaz wrote that the perpetrators of behind-the-scenes election-rigging should be caught and an inquiry should be initiated against them. “Investigate and take action against those responsible at the federal and provincial levels,” he said.
Shehbaz wrote in the letter that complaints should be lodged in court against the officers and staff involved in the Daska by-election and a process of punishment should be started against those who have been identified.
The Leader of the Opposition also wrote that those who issued instructions to the district authorities under criminal intent should be arrested.
He further said that the rules, code of conduct, and Election Act should be amended in consultation with political parties so that there would be no irregularities like the one in Daska in the forthcoming polls.
Daska by-election was rigged, Firdous Awan was also involved: ECP’s inquiry report
The NA-75 Sialkot-IV by-election held in Daska on February 19 was not held in a fair, free, and transparent manner, an inquiry report issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan earlier this month had determined.
The investigation report was prepared by the Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Saeed Gul.
the election officials and other government functionaries “did not play their designated role in a requisite manner [and] they were found puppets in the hands of their unlawful masters”.
The fact-finding team gathered details from official records obtained from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Islamabad; Intelligence Bureau, Islamabad; District Police, Sialkot; Elite Police Force; written statements and supplementary question and answer sessions of the presiding officers (POs), senior assistant presiding officers, naib qasidas, drivers, and police personnel, etc, the report said.
