Election concerns: Demands on electoral body ‘reasonable’: Nawaz

Says PML-N should be given credit for exposing the NRO.

BAHAWALPUR:

The eponymous chief of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said on Wednesday that his demands about the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are “reasonable” and that his party will not accept the government’s move if it is not based on a consensus.

PML-N had earlier called for appointing a new ECP chief to replace what it considers a ‘handpicked’ choice. Speaking on bogus votes in the electoral rolls, Nawaz Sharif said it is ECP’s negligence which has stirred a “serious crisis,” and if that is proved, it should be held responsible.

Sharif said it will be better for the government if elections are held earlier. “I think it will be in favour of the government if the elections are held before September or October.”

He added that the National Reconciliation Ordinance “would have been passed in the assembly and made into a law” had PML-N not intervened. “We are the ones who exposed the NRO. The credit goes to us for being a hurdle in its way.”

Speaking on the movement for the formation of Bahawalpur province, Sharif said it should not be based on any ethnic or linguistic grounds. He said the province should have been formed earlier, but the rights of Bahawalpur people were ignored. “We will do anything for the formation of the Bahawalpur province.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2012.