A senior Pakistani official says he helped rig Pakistan's elections, a week after polls marred by allegations of manipulation yielded no clear winner.
On Saturday, Liaqat Ali Chatta, the chief of Rawalpindi Garrison, where the country's powerful military is based, said he would hand himself over to police and resign from his post.
“We reversed a 70,000-vote difference in 13 seats in parliament and turned losers into winners,” he told reporters, also hinting at the involvement of the election commission chief and the country's top judge.
According to Pakistan's Dawn News, he admitted to being “deeply involved in serious crimes such as mass election fraud in 2024” and said he could not sleep because it “stabbed the country in the back”.
“I should be punished for the wrongdoing that I committed, and other people who were involved in this wrongdoer should also be punished,” he added.
After Chatta's announcement, Rawalpindi Senior Superintendent of Police Operations Kamran Asghar told Dawn that he had not been arrested as no charges had been filed against him.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Election Commission rejected Mr. Chatta's claims, but said in a statement that it would “investigate” the matter.
In a news release, the election watchdog also said that no staff member instructed Chata to “change the election results.”
But the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, a major rights advocacy group, said the confession “begins to expose the involvement of state bureaucrats in bid-rigging in Pakistan.”
thousands of people protesting
Meanwhile, on Saturday, thousands of people rallied in more than a dozen cities, including the capital Islamabad, claiming the vote was fraudulent.
Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera's Kamal Haider said tens of thousands of people took part in the protests despite government restrictions on public gatherings.
“People come from all walks of life. Women, children and entire families gathered at the Press Club in Islamabad. He claims that he is trying to put him in that position.”
The six-party coalition led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won 75 seats after nearly a week of political drama with divided mandates among voters in the February 8 elections. was launched. ) secured 54 seats, and the next government is expected to be formed.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently in jail for multiple convictions, was the clear winner in the election, winning a total of 93 seats, according to official results. .
“Guilty”
In a post on X on Saturday, PMLN called the Rawalpindi commissioner's actions a “cheeky move just days before leaving office” and a “cheap publicity ploy.” Mr. Chatta is scheduled to retire on March 13th.
“This person claims that he was pressured to give a 70,000-70,000 margin to the PMLN candidate, but the facts are completely different from his accusations,” the party said.
However, PTI's Khan called Chatta's confession “guilty” from prison.
“His statement is a demonstration of the nation-wide and systematic change in election results in which PTI’s key leads were fraudulently tampered with, resulting in losses and depriving the people of their legitimate mandate not only in the National Assembly but also in local assemblies. “This is a clear exposure of manipulation,” Khan said. Posting on Social Media Platform X.
“PTI also demands a fair investigation and meaningful trial for all those involved in this brazen mission theft,” he added.
Ali Muhammad Khan, a senior PTI official, told reporters in Islamabad that Chatta's statement proved that the party had been fooled. “We must be given back our mandate,” he said.