Shehbaz Sharif demands Pakistan PM's resignation after Daska by-poll report

Nov 07, 2021

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 7 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan after findings of an inquiry report by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on irregularities in the Daska by-election.
Citing a statement, Dawn reported that Shehbaz said attempts were being made to rob and snatch from the people their right to elect their own representatives.
"Imran Khan Niazi must tell what is he waiting for after the ECP report disclosed everything?" he asked.
The leader of the opposition in the National Assembly also asked the premier to submit himself for accountability in the wake of the ECP report. "It requires a big heart to become [ex-prime minister] Nawaz Sharif and face the law," he added.
A report released on Friday by the ECP on the February by-poll in Daska's NA-75 constituency concluded that election officials, police and the local administration failed to play their "designated role in the requisite manner and were found puppets in the hands of their unlawful masters" during the by-election, reported Dawn.
It also found that police officers and officials played an "absurd" role in the by-election.
"After an analysis of various statements of the inquiry proceedings, it could be induced that the police were either under the influence of a constant force that guided them or they deliberately remained blind to whatever was happening around them," the publication citing report stated.
Dawn further reported that the controversial by-election in February this year was marred by violence, rigging and the disappearance of more than 20 presiding officers (POs), and a fact-finding inquiry was launched to probe into the irregularities.