ECP compelled to get help from ‘bureaucracy’

A delegation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and demanded that returning officers (ROs) should be from the judiciary rather than the bureaucracy.

According to sources, the former ruling party expressed fears about the bureaucracy’s impartiality, highlighting the influence of the caretaker government of Punjab.

They said that the CEC told the PTI that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) tried to get the ROs from the judiciary, but the Lahore High Court (LHC) excused itself from the matter.

He added that now they have no other option but to take the bureaucracy’s assistance, and any further delays may lead to a delay in the elections.

The sources said that during the meeting, the CEC heard the concerns of the PTI and assured them of their resolution, adding that ECP was bound to conduct the polls in light of the Supreme Court’s (SC) orders.

They said that the PTI was told that ECP would strictly monitor the election campaign and the CEC even assured them to take up the matter with Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

They added that ECP has called on all political parties to cooperate with it, while it will take steps to provide equal opportunities to everyone.

The sources said that the PTI demanded that the provincial inspector general of police (IGP) and chief secretary issue instructions and the CEC assured them of the resolution of their concerns.

PTI’s delegation was led by Qureshi and included Asad Umar and Maleeka Ali Bukhari as well.

After the meeting, while speaking to the media, Qureshi said that they held the meeting with the permission of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

“The Election Commission has a huge responsibility for transparent elections; we talked about fair and transparent elections; the meeting took place in a very good atmosphere,” he said. “We raised our concerns before the Election Commission; we also put the Lahore incident before the Election Commission.”

The PTI leader said that despite the apex court’s verdict, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) is not giving any date

“If the election date is not given for some time, we will go to the Supreme Court over contempt of court,” he said.

Qureshi said that the Election Commission listened to them patiently. “We will inform our chairman about all the meeting; I am satisfied with this meeting,” he added.