Achi news desk-
Last Updated: March 25, 2024, 8:17 PM IST
“The EU report is very sensitive and important,” he said. (File photo)
PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan, while addressing a press conference in the capital, said that the European Union (EU) report on the elections should be published, Geo News reported
Imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: demanded on Monday that the European Union’s report on the February 8 general elections be published.
PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan, while addressing a press conference in the capital, said that the European Union (EU) report on the elections should be published, Geo News reported.
Recalling the EU delegation’s visit to Pakistan ahead of the February 8 general elections, Hasan said the intergovernmental body has confirmed the transfer of its report on the country’s polls to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). “The EU report is very sensitive and important,” he said.
The PTI spokesperson’s call comes as the party vehemently complains about “wide scale rigging and manipulation of election results” in the general elections claiming that its mandate has been “stolen”.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who is incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after being convicted in various cases, had also written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling on the global lender to conduct an audit of the election results. before approving any new loan for the cash-strapped country.
However, the demand was rejected by the Washington-based lender citing its “narrow mandate on economic issues” and saying it does not comment on domestic political developments.
Following the February 8 elections, Peter Stano, the EU’s Chief Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, deplored the “lack of fair play due to the inability of some political actors to contest the elections”.
It had also highlighted “restrictions on freedom of assembly, freedom of expression online and offline, restrictions on internet access, as well as allegations of serious interference in the electoral process, including the arrest of political activists”.
However, the EU was not the only entity to express concerns about the polls, as the United States and the United Kingdom expressed concerns about the “restricted” electoral environment followed by allegations of irregularities and interference in the voting process.
After the formation of the new government led by Shehbaz Sharif, the noose has been further tightened against the PTI and its leadership.
Terrorism cases have been registered against PTI leaders and workers for holding peaceful protests against February poll rigging.
The former prime minister, along with former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were each sentenced to 10 years in the cipher case in January for publishing the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the Islamabad government.
The cipher case involves a piece of paper, allegedly a diplomatic cable — the cipher — which Khan had waved at a public rally on March 27, 2022, and which named the United States, claimed his be ‘evidence’ of an “international conspiracy” to overthrow his government.
The Federal Investigation Agency filed the case against Khan and Qureshi on August 15 last year, accusing them of violating confidentiality laws in handling the cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in Washington in March 2022.
Khan and Qureshi have also been banned from politics for five years.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from the feed of a syndicated news agency – PTI)
