Ex-Pindi commissioner withdraws rigging allegations, claims PTI offered 'lucrative position' for accusations

Withdrawing all his allegations related to rigging in the elections, ex-Rawalpindi commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha said he was “extremely ashamed, embarrassed”.

The investigation committee, operating under the leadership of Nisar Durrani was tasked with probing allegations of electoral irregularities levelled by Liaquat Chattha last week. 

Chatha in his statement before ECP probe committee claimed that he made the move in coordination with a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader.

"| take full responsibility for my actions and surrender myself before the authorities for any kind of legal action," Chatha said in a statement to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Chatha revealed that all of this was done in coordination with the Imran Khan-founded PTI, who had also given him “lucrative positions in future”.

Chatha said during the PTI’s stint in power, he had developed a cordial personal friendship with one of the prominent PTI leaders.

The statement mentioned that Chatha, after the February 8 elections, had “secretly and discreetly travelled to Lahore” to meet the PTI leader on Feb 11.

“It was in this meeting, that he made an offer to me that if I play a role for supporting the PTI’s ongoing narrative of rigging in elections and maligning state institutions, he would ensure a lucrative position for me in future.”

Chatha's presser

On February 17, Liaquat Ali Chatha resigned from his post amidst a flurry of startling revelations regarding electoral misconduct. 

Chatha in the rare press conference, took responsibility for the “rigging” that he claimed took place in Rawalpindi Division. “We converted the losers into winners with 50,000 votes margin,” he stated.

In response to his allegations, the PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and other political parties — most of whom had already rejected the election results — demanded an investigation into the matter.