Peshawar:

Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram has claimed that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja played a key role in the implementation of the “minus-Imran formula”.

In a news conference in Peshawar, Akram said no previous election commissioner in the country’s history had taken such a controversial attitude.

He emphasized that the higher judiciary had repeatedly raised objections to CEC’s decisions, and in response, PTI leader Omar Ayub had filed a reference to the Commissioner in the Supreme Court’s council.

Akram also claimed that PTI had completed its basis for the appointment of a new CEC and called on the Prime Minister to form a parliamentary committee on the matter soon.

By tackling the question of a letter allegedly sent to the army chief, Akram confirmed that it was actually written by the PTI founder. “The message has been delivered to those it was intended for,” he noted. He also criticized CEC’s role in “delaying the Senate elections” in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the allocation of reserved seats for women.

He further condemned the ongoing crash of PTI members and claimed that illegal arrests took place in Punjab and Balochistan while the party offices were closed.

Akram announced that PTI supporters would gather nationwide on February 8 to observe a “black day” and secure success for the party’s planned rally.