In a huge relief for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a high-level probe by the Supreme Court today absolved his party of allegedly rigging the 2013 general election which the PML-N won by a landslide.
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On Thursday the three-judge commission, headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, delivered its 237-page report.
The report of over 274 pages was sent to the Ministry of Law late Wednesday by the judicial commission said the plan or design to manipulate or influence the election has not been disclosed with any degree of specification by any of the parties to the proceedings nor is it discernible from the material placed before the commission.
He said this commitment was demonstrative of government’s certainty and belief that the results of General Election 2013 were truly representative of the public mandate.
The prime minister said that they are ready to forget what happened after the elections till now but it was unfortunate that the country was defamed by making fair and spotless elections disputed.
During a recent meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the Russian city of Ufa, the two leaders had agreed to a meeting of their security advisers in New Delhi to discuss issues related to terrorism. Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has claimed victory and urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan to apologize to the nation.
On the other hand, the PTI exercised restraint and said it would come out with a response after going through contents of the commission’s report.
He also pointed out that ever since the general elections, his government pursued constructive policy of mutual consultations, reconciliation and consensus building. A judicial commission has rejected opposition allegations of fraud during the 2013 parliamentary election. He said he will give his reaction over the report after reading it.
“This journey should introduce us to a new era of peace, prosperity and progress”, he added.
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“We will continue to abide by the same principles in future as well”. He expressed the hope that those who wasted precious time of the nation would also learn the lesson and desist from negative politics.
