Tehreek-e-Insaf demands release of Commonwealth observers' report on Pakistan polls, cites "systemic rigging"

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 15 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has urged a foreign observation mission to make public its findings on the 2024 general elections, insisting that the document exposes "systemic rigging, institutional bias, and deliberate targeting of the Imran-Khan-led party and its founder," local publication Dawn reported.

The call followed a report by the independent outlet Drop Site News, which alleged that the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) had "buried their report" after identifying widespread irregularities in the February 8 polls. While the COG's assessment has yet to be formally published, some media organisations claimed to have accessed leaked versions, according to Dawn.

In a statement released on Sunday, the COG acknowledged awareness of an online version of its report but stressed that it does not comment on leaked material. "The government and the Election Commission of Pakistan have already received the report. The full report, as we had communicated earlier, will be released later this month, along with a number of COG reports currently in the publication pipeline," it said. The mission underlined that its work is "carried out free from any interference."

The delay has raised concerns, as election observation missions usually issue their findings within days or weeks of polling. The COG, while announcing its preliminary observations on February 10, 2024, had said its recommendations would be submitted to the Commonwealth secretary general before being shared with Islamabad and then made public.

According to an excerpt from the leaked copy -- whose authenticity could not be independently verified by Dawn -- the report noted: "Despite the fact that early vote counts indicated a landslide victory for candidates aligned with... the banned PTI... saw their polling leads rapidly reversed..."

Reacting to the controversy, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram said the leaked document reinforced the party's stance. "The leaked report validated PTI's longstanding reservations about widespread pre- and post-poll rigging," Dawn quoted him as saying.

Former aide to ex-prime minister Imran Khan, Zulfi Bukhari, also raised questions over the delay. "Tomorrow, I will be consulting legal counsel to initiate proceedings aimed at securing disclosure, both of the report itself in full and of the decision-making processes that led to its suppression," he wrote on X. (ANI)

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