LAHORE   -  Suspecting a plan allegedly orches­trated by the Pakistan Muslaim League- Nawaz to rig the upcoming elections, the Punjab leadership of the PPP Tuesday called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan to remove the newly-posted officials from the educa­tion department supposedly appoint­ed on behest of the PML-N. 

Addressing a press conference here, the General Secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party Central Pun­jab, Syed Hassan Murtaza called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan to investigate the appointment of government officials in the education department allegedly influenced by the Pakistan Muslim League (N). 

He was accompanied by the act­ing president of PPP Central Punjab, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan. Murtaza alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-N had purportedly taken measures to facilitate election rigging in various ways in Punjab. “The PPP appeals to the Election Commission of Pakistan to oversee the transfer of officials in Punjab, similar to the practice in Sindh”, he added. 

It is pertinent to mention here that 70 per cent of the staff hired by the ECP for election duty is taken from the education department. They perform duties at the polling stations as polling officers and assistant polling officers and play a crucial role in the polling process. The PPP leader suspected that new postings in the education de­partment might have been made un­der the influence of the PML-N to rig the upcoming elections in Punjab. 

Murtaza also informed the media that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had initiated a mass public campaign in Karachi and was scheduled to en­ter Punjab on Tuesday, with plans to reach Multan on the same day. He would preside over a meeting of the Punjab Executive Committee on Thursday, during which decisions re­garding the election would be made.

To a question, Murtaza, without di­rectly mentioning the PML-N, ques­tioned why a certain political party opposed the idea of holding elections in ninety days when PPP advocated for it. He also challenged Ishaq Dar on his inability to stabilise exchange rate. Murtaza asserted that PPP would not tolerate false propaganda against its leaders on social media and in na­tional media. He condemned character assassination of PPP leaders Shazia Marri and Mumtaz Chang. Murtaza said if PPP leaders were found guilty of wrongdoing, they should face ap­propriate action, but if they were inno­cent, institutions should refrain from spreading propaganda against them.