RAWALPINDI – Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Director General Saif Anwar Jappa has been given an additional charge of Rawalpindi commissioner, a day after Liaquat Ali Chatha took the country by storm with his explosive presser over rigging in recent general elections.
Chatha has been transferred and directed to report to the Services and General Administration Department.
His successor, Saif Anwar Jappa, has rejected all allegations of massive rigging in the February 8 general elections. Jappa clarified that the commissioner’s role during the polls was strictly limited to coordination.
In a press conference at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium alongside District Returning Officers (DROs) from Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Attock, and Chakwal districts, Jappa confirmed he has assumed the position of Rawalpindi commissioner.
Jappa says he has called for a comprehensive inquiry to investigate the rigging claims made by the former commissioner.
A day earlier, Chatha stepped down as Commissioner Rawalpindi, admitting his involvement in manipulating the results of Feb 8 elections, which were marred by accusations of massive electoral fraud and returned no clear winner.
“I am taking responsibility for all the wrongdoing I have committed during this election,” Chatha told a hurriedly convened news conference in his Rawalpindi office.
“We put fake stamps on ballot papers, turning losers into winners and reversing margins of 70,000 votes at times across 13 National Assembly seats,” he added, but not providing evidence to support his claims.
“I apologize to all my returning officers who were working under my supervision and crying when I pushed them to commit a wrongful act against their free will,” Chatha said.
The senior bureaucrat claimed that he had even contemplated suicide because his wrongful act of “stabbing the country in its back” did not let him sleep over the past week.
While surrendering himself to the authorities, he asked for capital punishment for himself, Chief Election Commissioner and Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The officer was later taken into police custody for charges not known immediately.
The election commission swiftly rejected Chatha’s allegations. In a statement, the ECP said that the commission had not instructed him to “change of election results” and promised to launch an investigation into the controversy.
Also Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa denied the charges, telling reporters outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad that baseless allegations hold no weight without evidence.
ECP rejects Commissioner Rawalpindi’s claims of poll rigging
