Pakistan’s Election Commission has officially reported that it suspects fraud in the NA-75 constituency by-elections in Sialkot.
On Saturday afternoon, the ECP released an Explanatory Statement on the delay and suspension of the outcome of the NA-75 Daska constituency by-election.
Earlier today, in the light of a dispute involving 23 presiding officers who had reportedly ‘gone missing’ late in the night, the details of the NA-75 by-poll were withheld at the behest of the PML-N.
Due to the fog, 23 polling officers were trapped in far-flung parts of the constituency. Police had taken the officers where PML-N and PTI leaders were also present and took them to the office of the district returning officer in a late-night development.
The ECP statement, however, also said that several attempts to reach the presiding officers were made, but no reply was obtained from them. The chief election commissioner also tried to contact Punjab IG and other relevant authorities after receiving news about the presiding officers who had ‘gone missing’.
The DRO and RO announced that it is now alleged that the results of 20 polling stations in the NA-75 by-election were rigged so that the final result of the constituency could not be published without a complete investigation, ECP said.