PTI senator demands forensic audit of RTS failure, seeks Nadra chairman's resignation

PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati on Friday said the sudden failure of Result Transmission System (RTS) on election day has cast doubts over the transparency of election results, therefore, a forensic audit should be conducted into the alleged failure.

Swati said this while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, flanked by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Earlier this month, the senior PTI leader had presented a detailed report to Prime Minister Imran Khan on the alleged failure of RTS and suggested that PM Khan should suspend National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Usman Mobeen.

The senator reiterated his demand during the press conference saying a transparent probe was not possible in the presence of the incumbent Nadra chairman.

After the general election, the PTI had formed a fact-finding committee headed by Senator Swati to look into the alleged failure of the RTS.

The prime minister asked Swati to consult with the forensic experts before publishing the report and assured him of all of his cooperation.

Ready to be audited on any forum: Nadra

In response to Swati's press conference, Nadra said that the authority was ready to provide any explanation and present itself for any forensic audit.

"There is no connection between the RTS and the RMS and the RTS remained completely functional [throughout the compilation of results of the General Elections]," the Nadra spokesperson said.

The Dawn Newspaper had earlier reported that the Nadra officials believed that it was the ECP’s own costly Result Management System that had stopped functioning and the ECP had put the blame on Nadra only as a cover-up. They said that RTS and RMS were independent systems and there was no integration between the two.