RAWALPINDI – Former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha on Thursday withdrew his allegations of vote rigging in the general election 2024 days after he held an explosive presser.
Last week, Chatha announced his resignation from his post over massive rigging in the recently held general elections.
In a statement, the former bureaucrat admitted to his role in election rigging in Rawalpindi Division. He mentioned that returning officers under his command manipulated election results for at least 13 candidates in the division.
He blamed Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa for election rigging and later surrendered himself to the police for trial. His allegations had raised many an eyebrows with various political parties, including the PTI, demanding an investigation into the matter.
Chatha has now recorded his statement to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and withdrawn his allegations. He has said that he had done it on the behest of the PTI as he had a “close friendship” with a prominent leader of the party.
He claimed that he had detailed discussions with the said PTI leader before the press conference, adding that the primary “aim of this proposed press conference was to create sensation and drama augmenting false narrative being built by the PTI”.
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“The name of CJ was taken with the aim of creating mistrust in general public against him. The Chief Justice of Pakistan did not have any role in the entire election process,” read the statement.
