Not surprised by PoK poll rigging, Pakistan notorious for not upholding democracy: NCP

Mumbai, July 30 (ANI): The National Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday asserted it was not surprised by the "rigged" elections in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), considering the fact that Pakistan itself is notorious for not upholding democracy. "Now, to what extent does democracy function in Pakistan is a well known fact. So, we are not at all surprised by these fake elections or rigging throughout," NCP leader Majid Memon told ANI. Memon further said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had abused his power to influence the election. "In the POK, the election has been rigged by the ruling party because Prime Minister himself has abused his position which in fact is now surfacing because all opponents are shouting at the top of their voices that the whole election has been completely rigged," he said. Widespread protest was witnessed on Tuesday when the July 21 elections were reportedly declared as rigged. The election saw the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) win 32 out of 41 seats or more than seventy five percent of the seats. The protesters closed all commercial centers in the cities and held demonstrations outside the POK assembly at Muzaffarabad and government buildings. Consequently, India's Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said that the election process in PoK was nothing but a sham. He further said that the ban by the government on independent observers from other countries to oversee the election process tells the real story.(ANI)