It’s two days since election results were announced and there are still two major questions on everyone’s minds: Rigging or no rigging? And… Is the ECP so inept it couldn’t get its own system to work properly on the most important day of the year?
PTI Govt should thoroughly investigate & punish elements within NADRA & ECP that might have conspired to create failure of RTS on 25 July – acting in collusion with other elements that were working to discredit Elections; stage was cleverly set for bigger drama; it’s not over — Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) July 27, 2018
Early Wednesday morning, the official Twitter account of the Government of Pakistan uploaded the following tweet referring to the prowess of the RTS system:
However, by the end of the day, this ‘fastest and modern’ system had seemingly collapsed under the pressure:
‘Spoke too soon…’ – the depth of this gentleman’s disappointment is palpable
Furthermore, PML-N figurehead Shehbaz Sharif had already declared that the election had been rigged and that they could not accept the results of such an election as binding:
Accordingly, some people then took to Twitter to point out the connection they thought was clear between rigging allegations and the delay by the ECP.
Except not in favour of PML-N’s accusations as you might think – instead PTI fans insisted the system’s breakdown was orchestrated in order to bring down PTI.
Enough said.
Others, however, denied that any such connection existed.
However, such was the strength of the raging campaign against the ECP that the addition of that last sentence could very well have been a cautionary measure against angry Twitterati.
And of course, no accusation is complete without some healthy (if not slightly outlandish) conspiracy:
The truth maybe – we can’t know for sure. Amidst the melee that is Pakistan General Elections 2018, nearly anything can happen. But we do know exactly what most PTI supporters think; they provide a sea of stability in an ever-shifting landscape:
Basic message: sit down and shut up. You lose, Imran Khan wins. Anything contrary to that is ‘useless’.
If the overall prevailing attitude of the public towards ECP and its technical failure had to be summed up in one tweet, however, this one would probably do justice:
Although not quite as simplistic as all that, the rigging accusations and the RTS affair have proved one thing for sure. The Pakistani public is more than just active: it is a living, breathing faction of a woke Twitter that won’t just let things be brushed under the rug. And the newest victim of this strong inclination towards accountability? The RTS system.
The truth maybe – we can’t know for sure. Amidst the melee that is Pakistan General Elections 2018, nearly anything can happen. But we do know exactly what most PTI supporters think; they provide a sea of stability in an ever-shifting landscape: 
Although not quite as simplistic as all that, the rigging accusations and the RTS affair have proved one thing for sure. The Pakistani public is more than just active: it is a living, breathing faction of a woke Twitter that won’t just let things be brushed under the rug. And the newest victim of this strong inclination towards accountability? The RTS system.