ISLAMABAD: Former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha, while retracting all his allegations related to rigging in the elections, expressed being “extremely ashamed and embarrassed” about his recent statement, which he made in coordination with a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and surrender myself before the authorities for any kind of legal action,” Liaqat Chatha expressed in a statement to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
In a dramatic move last Saturday, the former Commissioner announced his resignation, levelling severe rigging allegations on the election process. He also took responsibility for the “rigging” in Rawalpindi Division. “We converted the losers into winners with a 50,000-vote margin,” he said.
However, retracting his allegations, Chatha said that all his claims and allegations were in coordination with PTI, with offers of “lucrative and attractive positions for me in the future,” adding that during the PTI’s tenure, he had developed a friendly personal relationship with one of the prominent PTI leaders.
Ex-Pindi Commissioner Blames PTI
Chatha further stated that he had direct contact with the concerned leader and had received help from him on various issues. “Consequently, my relationship with said prominent PTI leader evolved into a very close friendship based on a high level of trust,” he said.
According to Chatha, he had “secretly and discreetly traveled to Lahore” to meet the PTI leader on Feb 11 soon after the February 8 election.
“It was in the said meeting that he made an offer to me to play a role in backing the PTI’s ongoing narrative of rigging in elections and maligning state institutions, for which I would be offered a lucrative position in the future,” he said.
Chatha further maintained in his statement that the PTI leader informed him that the entire plan had been devised after consultation and approval from the senior leadership of the PTI.
