Commissioner Multan has not resigned

Claim: After the resignation of the Commissioner Rawalpindi, the Commissioner Multan has resigned from his position too. 

Fact: The Commissioner Multan has not submitted his resignation. He has been transferred to the position of Commissioner Rawalpindi, and his former post has been given to Maryam Khan.

On 19 February 2024, a viral post on X claimed that the Commissioner Multan had resigned from his position:

“ مشنر ملتان نے بھی استعفی دے دی “

This comes two days after the Commissioner Rawalpindi’s explosive confession of rigging in the 2024 general election, after which platform X has been blocked in Pakistan. 

On 17 February 2024, Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaquat Ali Chatta spoke to the media and said that he was complicit in rigging votes for thirteen candidates from Rawalpindi, making their counterparts lose, who were initially winning with a lead of 70,000 or more votes. He also claimed that the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Election Commissioner were complicit, asking for all three of them to be sentenced to death. 

Following this confession, an investigative body was set up to look into the Commissioner’s claims, under the leadership of Nisar Durrani, to whom Chattha provided his statement on the allegations of rigging. 

Fact or Fiction?

Soch Fact Check found that after Chathha’s resignation from his official position, the Punjab government issued a notification on 21 February 2024, ordering the transfer and posting of two commissioners. According to this notification, former Commissioner Multan, Abdul Aamer Khattak, was posted as Commissioner Rawalpindi, and Maryam Khan, Secretary Implementation & Coordination (I&C) S&GAD, was posted as Commissioner Multan in Khattak’s place.

This was reported by The News and SAMAA. 

Furthermore, Soch Fact Check contacted the Deputy Commissioner Multan’s personal assistant, who informed us that the claim about the Commissioner Multan’s resignation is false. The assistant confirmed that the former Commissioner Multan has been transferred to Commissioner Rawalpindi after Chattha left it vacant, and that his position has been given to Maryam Khan.

Virality

The post on X has been viewed more than 303,400 times.

We also found the same claim shared on Facebook here, here, here, and here. 

Conclusion: The Commissioner Multan did not resign from his post. He has been transferred to the position of Commissioner Rawalpindi while his former post has been given to Maryam Khan.

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Background image in cover photo: The News International 

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