(Bloomberg) -- Imran Khan's party called for an investigation after a Pakistani official owned up to being involved in vote-rigging in the country's election as the battle over the contentious polls continues to escalate.
A judicial commission should be formed to look into the claims made by Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha that he helped to manipulate the vote count, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Interim Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said Sunday.
The official also said the Election Commission of Pakistan was involved in the rigging. The ECP denied the allegations and said commissioner's don't have any direct role in the election process, said a statement.
The revelations give credence to the allegations by Khan's party and some smaller parties of widespread rigging of the Feb. 8 election. Most elections in Pakistan have seen losing candidates claim rigging. PTI candidates, running as independents after a crackdown by the authorities, won the most seats but fell short of an outright majority. They claim the rigging was done to keep them out of power.
Pakistan's dollar bonds made up six out of the 10 worst performers in emerging markets on the day, with notes maturing 2051 dropping the most, down two cents to 61 cents on the dollar, according to indicative pricing compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark KSE 100 stock index pared early gains while the rupee was little changed, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“This is the first time a commissioner is raising his voice according to his conscience,” said Ali Khan. “And he said that he made sure candidates who lost were made to win while those who won were made to lose. This corroborates what we have been saying.”
The official said he had decided to resign after changing the results of 13 National Assembly seats in Rawalpindi, where the country's powerful military has its headquarters. Candidates who were losing the elections “were made to win,” he told reporters on Saturday. He added that the process to justify the manipulated results was still going on in some government offices.
The election commission will investigate the allegations and submit a report within three days, it said in a statement.
Chattha's confession comes more than a week after Pakistanis voted in the election, which was widely expected to be an easy win for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz — a party that analysts say was backed by the military.
PML-N, the party of Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz, is putting together a coalition to run the country, which is facing challenges on multiple fronts, from the fastest inflation in Asia to a debt load that some analysts say is unsustainable.
Khan's PTI has started protests across the country and filed petitions with the courts to force recounts. The party plans to challenge the results for about half the seats it lost in the election.
The party has also picked its own nominee for prime minister — the grandson of a former military ruler, as Khan, a former cricket star, is in jail and has been banned from running for public office for five years.
--With assistance from Ronojoy Mazumdar.
(Updates with details fourth paragraph onwards)
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