Staff Reporter Lahore
PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday announced the party’s demand for a re-election in NA-75 Sialkot-IV.
Her statement followed what she termed was “irrefutable evidence” and the Election Commission of Pakistan’s “charge sheet against the government.”
She said “evidence” began at 5pm, she thanked the party workers and the people of Daska and Nowshera who “guarded their votes” and “caught the thieves” who had allegedly stolen votes.
“There was firing, polling was slowed, people were killed and bags of votes were stolen. The ECP was looking for you, where was the Punjab government,” she asked while addressing the media in Lahore.
“Where was the chief minister, the chief secretary, the police, the IG and the administration,” she questioned. Maryam claimed that the PTI rigged the Daska and Wazirabad by-polls because it knew that the PML-N would win by an “overwhelming majority”.
“Their camps were empty. When they went into the field they must have seen the turnout at their own camps […] which would have made them anxious with worry.”
She maintained that the PTI resorted to firing in order to “create an environment of fear” in order to deter PML-N supporters from voting.
“There is a video that shows a PTI MNA standing beside those firing shots. Their candidate and their people opened fire in markets and streets which claimed the lives of two citizens.”
Maryam also lashed out at the government for blaming the opposition. “The administration and the police is theirs. Just imagine how someone from the PML-N would have been treated if they had acted the same.”
Despite the situation, PML-N voters and supporters refused to back down and stood against the use of force, she said. “I saw a video of a woman who said she had not planned to vote for the PML-N. But after the firing and hooliganism, she said she changed her mind.
“So you think the people are fools but they are not. Their eyes are wide open,” she said, adding that “everyone has a mobile phone”.
When they were unsuccessful in this regard, they resorted to slowing down the voting process in Daska and Wazirabad by closing down polling stations, she said. “
They received internal orders […] there were long queues outside polling stations videos of which were also shared. “Have your ever heard of polling stations being closed for four to five hours? They closed the doors while their own ministers were sitting inside. What were they doing,” she questioned, adding that a minister from the ruling-PTI was also “caught red-handed”.
“When this scheme was also unsuccessful, they decided to run away with bags full of ballots,” she said, adding that this effort was thwarted by PML-N workers who were “vigilant after being beaten in the 2018 general election”.
