Pakistan Forms Team To Probe Trolling Of Officials Over Feb 8 Election 'Rigging'

The formation of the team comes in the wake of the consistent allegations by the incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The elections were held on February 8 in Pakistan.

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Pakistan’s caretaker government has formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which includes the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) — the country’s premier intelligence service, to probe the social media trolling of accused officials and functionaries of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of being involved in the reported rigging of the elections, according to PTI.

The Joint Investigation Team will investigate the individuals who have engaged in trolling the government officials and the top poll body functionaries. It will also identify and prosecute the people responsible as per the applicable law.

The formation of the team comes in the wake of the consistent allegations by the incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Khan has accused government officials and members of the ECP of orchestrating what he termed as the "Mother of All Rigging."

The report with the findings is supposed to be submitted in 15 days.

Khan asserted that the alleged rigging allowed his political adversaries to manipulate the electoral process and usurp his party's mandate.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) struck a power-sharing deal two-weeks after the election day. The parties decided to form a coalition government led by ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a move that could effectively keep Khan out of power.

Both the PML-N and the PPP obtained fewer parliamentary seats than candidates supported by Khan's PTI in an election marked by controversies, including allegations of vote rigging.

The PTI has accused the influential establishment of collaborating with those involved in rigging and has initiated a substantial social media campaign to underscore these allegations.

According to a notification released by the interior ministry, the JIT was established under Section 30 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. An additional director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will serve as its convener, reported PTI, citing Dawn News. 

Members from ISI, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra), and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have also joined in the investigation. According to PTI, IT experts could also be hired if required to probe the “malicious” social media campaign.

The JIT stated that it will work to identify and prosecute individuals involved in social media campaigns against government officials for their alleged role in irregularities on the day of polling. It will also propose measures to counter such campaigns in the future in 15 days along with its findings.