Pakistan PM addresses nation over inquiry commission report on 2013 election rigging

Pakistan's three- member judicial commission headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, in much- awaited detailed report sent to the Ministry of Law rejected all the three allegations of cricketer- turned- politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek- e- Insaf (PTI) party on rigging in the 2013 general elections. The three main allegations of the PTI included organised rigging in the 2013 general elections, non- transparent polling and theft of the public mandate. The Commission report said there were irregularities to the extent of the Election Commission but "they did not constitute a reflection of a deviation from the public mandate." Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addressing the nation hours after the report was presented to him, said the report of the Judicial Commission is not only an endorsement of the government's point of view on the issue of electoral rigging but also authentication of the people's mandate. In August last year, tens of thousands of protesters led by Imran Khan, a former cricket star, and Tahir ul- Qadri, a firebrand cleric, stormed into the capital and occupied an area home to government buildings and foreign embassies, saying protests would continue around the country until the government quits. The protest leaders accused Sharif of rigging last year's election which brought him back to power in a landslide, a charge he denied. Sharif said his party considers the verdict of the Inquiry Commission as a milestone, and after the historic verdict of the Inquiry Commission, Pakistan will enter into a new era of ridding the country of chaos, uncertainty and instability. He said Pakistan has embarked upon the journey of progress and prosperity and today's Pakistan is much better than that of two years back.