The candidates allege that all presiding officers initially provided signed Form 45 results, which were later altered.
PESHAWAR:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates from Peshawar district have formally demanded a probe into alleged irregularities in the previous general elections, writing to the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly.
In a detailed three-page letter, PTI candidates, including Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Mahmood Jan, Ali Azeem, Arbab Jahandar, Malik Shahab, Muhammad Asim, Kamran Bangash, Sajid Nawaz and Hamidul Haq, called for the formation of a special committee under rule 237 of the rules of procedure of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to probe the alleged electoral fraud.
The letter claims that a timely investigation could have prevented alleged irregularities in subsequent elections, such as the by-election in NA-18 Haripur. According to PTI candidates, many provincial assembly seats have witnessed manipulated results, particularly in Peshawar, where large-scale anomalies are alleged.
The candidates allege that all presiding officers initially provided signed Form 45 results, which were later altered. They claim that when preliminary results favored the PTI, the affected computer screens were allegedly closed, hampering transparency.
The letter also names key officials as witnesses to the incidents, including District Returning Officer Peshawar Afaq Wazir, CCPO Peshawar Ashfaq Anwar and SSP Operations Kashif Abbasi. Further, it is claimed that CCPO Peshawar prevented PTI candidates from entering the Qayyum Stadium compound during critical stages of the vote counting process. Former chief secretary Nadeem Chaudhry and then inspector general of police Akhtar Hayat Gandapur were reportedly present in the control rooms overseeing the operations.
The PTI candidates also said that the matter had been brought to the notice of the Election Commission of Pakistan and the Peshawar High Court for further investigation. The party emphasizes that only a thorough and impartial investigation can restore public confidence in the province’s electoral process.
