Imran calls for rethink on how CEC, interim PM are named

ISLAMABAD: Despite expressing ‘happiness’ over the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) drive to reform the country’s electoral process, PTI chairman Imran Khan has reiterated his demand for the resignation of ECP’s members while also calling into question provisions of the 18th Constitutional Amendment for appointment of heads of constitutional institutions.

“The process of appointment [of chief election commissioner (CEC), National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief and caretaker prime minister] is against the principle of justice,” said Imran on Wednesday, while talking with reference to the 18th amendment.

Imran was talking to the media outside the ECP building where he earlier had a meeting with CEC Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan. He said the biggest flaw in the amendment was that it allowed the two leading parties of the country to appoint the heads of such vital institutions ‘on the basis of a deal’.

“It was because of the deal that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government did not touch Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) corruption cases,” he added. “These parties [PPP and PML-N] have their own NAB chief, caretaker government and CEC.”

Giving details of his meeting with Justice (retd) Sardar, the PTI chairman said he was happy that the CEC had already started working on the findings of the Judicial Inquiry Commission and assured him that issues of mismanagement and irregularities would not happen in future elections.

The judicial commission which probed the PTI’s allegations of systematic rigging in the May 2013 polls had given 40 findings with regard to irregularities in the 2013 polls. “And the ECP is considering every single of them,” he added.

He said that during the meeting he raised five points, including his letter to the ECP and the latter’s response to it. “I told the CEC that the PTI is not happy with ECP’s response to the letter,” he said.

The PTI chief also discussed issue of the removal of a post-election tribunal judge Justice Kazim Malik and asked the CEC to let the judge continue working till resolution of all election petitions.  Imran said Justice Malik was being removed due to the pressure of the ruling PML-N.

“Two PML-N ministers have threatened Malik after he de-notified PML-N leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at NA-122 Lahore,” he added. “The CEC said he would consider the request.”

The PTI chairman asked the ECP chief to deploy army troops at polling stations during the upcoming by-elections. “We do not trust the Punjab police,” he said, adding that he has also asked the CEC to take notice of development funds being doled out ahead of the upcoming local government polls in Sindh and Punjab and by-elections.

To a question about his demand for removal of provincial election commissioners, he said that “no one trusts them.”

Imran said the PTI would hold protest for their removal on October 4 and would continue to put pressure till the job is done. He clarified that the PTI had not filed a reference against the ECP members in the Supreme Judicial Council and do not own the one filed by a PTI member.


Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2015.