Pakistan: UNDP snubs Imran Khan’s claims

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Wednesday ruled out Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan’s charges of 'disruption' in its election project on May 11, 2013, Samaa reported.

“None of our consultants were forced out of Returning Officers' (ROs) offices on the election day” Country Director UNDP Marc-Andre Franche told Samaa.

Brushing aside Khan’s allegations, Franche also swore that not even a single of UNDP’s computers was switched off following President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Mian Nawaz Sharif’s election victory speech on the night of election.

“On May 11, six UNDP consultants rendered only technical assistance to ROs regarding new computerized result management system in place”, Franche explained.

To a question, Franche said that none of UNDP consultants lodged a complaint that ROs showed them the door or their computers were forcibly shut down.

It is noteworthy that speaking at a public rally in Bahawalpur Friday Imran Khan had alleged that after Sharif’s “declaration of a clean sweep in polls”, none of the data-enrtry operators sent a single computerized result copy to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Another of Khan's accusations was that ROs coerced operators to hold up the operation.

"Using this delay as a justification, the ROs sent handwritten results to ECP. This is how the results were rigged to defeat PTI in different constituencies." The UNDP project titled “Electoral Cycle Support to the Election Commission of Pakistan” was aimed at ensuring transparency in the May 11 polls.

The UN agency had extended similar technical assistance to over 60 countries.