Jui-F Stance: ‘ECP ignoring charter’s provisions’

JUI-F says Islam is official religion of Pakistan but ECP barred people from asking votes in the name of religion.

QUETTA: A senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of ignoring constitutional provisions in its decision to bar candidates from electioneering in the name of Islam.

Addressing a news conference at the Quetta Press Club on Thursday, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the party’s general secretary, said that on one hand the country’s constitution says that Islam is the official religion but, on the other hand, the ECP has issued a warning that a candidate shall be awarded three-year punishment if he or she asks for votes in the name of religion.

“How can the ECP prohibit political parties and candidates from asking for votes in the name of religion in Pakistan, a country that was carved out in the name of Islam” he asked.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2013.