INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pakistan survey body blamed hold-up in the formal vote count on technical issue in electronic results system.Islamabad: Pakistans top
election authorities batted away claims of ballot-rigging Thursday, safeguarding an ongoing delay in the formal vote count as a technical
issue.The incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party flat out declined the pending outcomes of Wednesdays election, mentioning
straight-out rigging and implicating officials of preventing its representatives from managing the count.The Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) rejected the claims, stating a brand-new electronic results system suffered unanticipated glitches.Despite the technical
concerns, these elections were 100 percent fair and transparent , said Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza on Thursday, in his
very first comments after polls closed.Raza did not say when election authorities would remain in a position to reveal the results
The remarks showed comparable remarks by the ECPs secretary hours earlier.The PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif-- bro of jailed former prime
minister Nawaz Sharif-- alleged huge rigging in the election that will cause irreparable damage to the nation
As election workers put over mounds of paper ballots, other significant celebrations-- including the Pakistan Peoples Party-- joined the
fray, declaring the count was being manipulated.The debate follows a bitter project season marred by claims of disturbance from the countrys
powerful armed force, with previous cricket star Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf celebration (PTI) implicated of being the
beneficiary.The election was mainly viewed as a head-to-head clash between the PTI and the PML-N, with election analysts saying the contest
was still too near to call.The PML-N claims it has actually been the target of the supposed military machinations
Its previous leader Nawaz was ousted from power last year and imprisoned over a corruption conviction days prior to the vote, removing Khans
most unsafe rival.The military denies the claims.
