ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan Sunday said the entire country had lost trust in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and demanded its reconstitution as an ‘independent and strong’ ECP.
Addressing a large gathering of PTI workers and supporters at D-Chowk here, Imran Khan said: “We want an independent and strong Election Commission.”
He said the Returning Officers (ROs) should function under the ECP, adding that the existing ECP did not have ROs under it. “We want scrutiny of results in four constituencies.”
Imran Khan said those responsible for ‘35 punctures’ must not be made part of the new ECP and called upon members of the existing commission to step down.
He also demanded that overseas Pakistanis be given the right to vote as per orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Imran Khan announced that he will protest every Friday in front of the ECP building until his party’s demands are fulfilled.
Taking a dig at Pakistan Muslim League-N, the PTI chief said Zardari was better than PML-N because the former did what he did but the PML-N said one thing and went ahead and did exactly the opposite.
“They said there is no restriction on holding a protest but on the other hand blocked the way for the protesters,” he lamented. “Learn to speak the truth,” Imran Khan advised PML-N.
Imran Khan also criticized Geo/Jang Group and hurled allegations against it without any evidence.
Imran Khan thanked the participants of the rally and for making it a ‘success’. “All out efforts were made to make the demonstration a failure.”
Recalling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent statement in which he said, ‘you neither play yourself nor allow others to play’, Imran Khan said: “I want to play but I want you to play in the presence of neutral umpires.”
He said his party wanted neutral umpires in May 11 elections, as it wanted to build a new Pakistan.
He questioned, how someone who wins elections through using illegal means would act honestly after coming into the parliament.
Criticizing Nawaz Sharif and Senator Ishaq Dar, he said both leaders during their visits abroad invited businessmen to invest in Pakistan but themselves have remained engaged in taking their investments from Pakistan to UK and Dubai respectively.
Earlier, caravans from various parts of the country converged at the D-Chowk of Pakistan’s capital to take part in a protest rally against the alleged rigging of last year’s general election.