After Punjab, K-P PA passes resolution against CEC

Resolutions come after Imran's allegations surrounding coalition meeting with ECP officials

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Monday passed a resolution, seeking the resignations of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and ECP commissioners over their alleged “biasness”, amid uproar in the house.

A day earlier when the Punjab Assembly met to administer the oath of deputy speaker to Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi, it also passed a similar resolution against the CEC and the ECP commissioners.

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Former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday accused the CEC of biasness after Raja met with the ruling PML-N leaders and discussed the prohibited funding case against the PTI.

During the K-P Assembly session, a war of words ensued between the PTI lawmakers and the ones belonging to the opposition -- the Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl – when the treasury benches moved and then passed the said resolution.

The ANP adopted the stance that the resolution was “against the democratic norms”.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Nighat Orakzai pointed out the quorum when the resolution was moved by provincial Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra but the chairman of the panel, Idrees Khattak, continued with the proceedings unmoved.

She resorted to staging a protest in front of the speaker’s dice, tore apart the agenda and threw it towards Khattak.

Meanwhile, ANP Parliamentary Leader Sardar Hussain Babak said that passing the resolution in haste was not in accordance with the democratic norms.

He condemned the attitude of treasury benches, saying that the PTI “buried political ethics”.

Babak said price hike, economic crisis and other issues had made life miserable for everyone "while the treasury benches are reluctant to talk about issues including a ban on trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan".

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He alleged that the PTI ministers were regularly paying "ransom" to the Taliban whenever they demanded, adding that the provincial PTI government under its leader had restored Tehreek Nifaz Sharia Muhammadi while also promoting "Talibanisation" in the province.

Maulana Lutfur Rehman of the JUI-F said that the PTI was silent when all the political parties were demanding fair and transparent elections and now they were blaming others. “The PTI wants a politically destabilised Pakistan.”

PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Muhammad Yousaf condemned the passing of the resolution, saying that the resolution should have been passed keeping in view the democratic norms.

“Only three PTI lawmakers have signed this regulation,” he said, adding that 13 political parties were standing united against the PTI because they considered it was incapable of running the affairs of the state.

Naeema Kishwar of the JUI-F said that the CEC’s powers were similar to that of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and no assembly had the right to pass a resolution against the electoral chief. “If the election commissioner of Pakistan takes action against the mover of the resolution, he/she should be disqualified from the assembly,” he demanded.

‘CEC’s resignation essential’

Earlier, the house passed a resolution demanding the resignation of the CEC and all ECP members to pave the way for holding free and fair elections in the country.

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The resolution presented by the finance minister stated that the resignation of the CEC was essential so that “all political parties unanimously constitute an impartial election commission for holding free and fair elections”.

The resolution condemned the dissolution of the PTI government as part of an international conspiracy, saying that the move caused political uncertainty and adversely affected the economy of the country.

The resolution hoped that all the political parties would act responsibly in the wake of the prevailing situation in the country and concluded that immediate transparent general elections were the only way to pull the country out of the present crisis.