LAHORE: Former Attorney General Punjab (AGP) and counsel for Yasmin Rashid, Ahmed Owais, during a press conference on Saturday described his client’s election defeat as the “biggest and unprecedented electoral fraud” committed on February 8 in NA-130 Lahore, aimed solely at ensuring Nawaz Sharif’s victory against the public’s will.
The counsel for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Yasmin Rashid claimed that 74,000 bogus votes were cast in NA-130 to secure the victory of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif.
“Around 74,000 more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters to guarantee Nawaz Sharif’s win,” he stated.
Furthermore, Owais highlighted that the final results showed a significant increase in votes for Nawaz Sharif from the majority of polling stations. He also mentioned that following the May 9 riots, Yasmin Rashid was arrested in what he claimed was a ‘fabricated’ case. “If Yasmin Rashid was involved, she would have been punished by now. However, the government does not have any evidence against her,” he asserted.
It is noted that Nawaz Sharif clinched the seat by securing 179,310 votes against PTI-backed Dr. Yasmin Rashid, who received 104,485 votes in the general elections.
Dr. Rashid has since challenged Nawaz Sharif’s victory at the Election Commission of Pakistan as well as the Lahore High Court.
Earlier, a civil society organization, PATTAN, reported that Lahore’s NA-130 constituency likely experienced severe rigging, marking it as potentially the worst instance of electoral manipulation in Punjab’s electoral history since 2002. According to PATTAN, the turnout discrepancies in Forms-45s for NA-130 ranged from 90% to 102%, significantly higher compared to about 40% for the provincial assembly seats, leading to allegations of manipulated electoral documentation.
