ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Monday told the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) here in a meeting that delay in the general elections would not be tolerated and got assurance from the electoral body that the polls would be held on time.
A PPP delegation led by Senator Taj Haider met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja here at the ECP Secretariat and apprised him of the party’s related concerns and apprehensions, and presented some proposals for fair and transparent polls. Besides Taj Haider the PPP delegation included Saeed Ghani, Nasir Hussain Shah, Hassan Murtaza and Faisal Karim Kundi.
Talking to journalists outside the ECP after the meeting, Taj Haider said that they told the commission that the delay in the elections will not be tolerated under any circumstances. The ECP has assured them that the petitions for delaying the election will soon be declared non-maintainable, he added.
He said from PPP Punjab Chapter Hassan Murtaza drew ECP attention towards the establishment of village councils in Punjab, where no local bodies elections had been held but the PMLN had nominated its people in these councils. He added that the PMLN was using government funds under one pretext or the other, and people were being inducted, which was a flagrant violation of the election laws.
“The ECP acknowledged the fact that this wrong was being committed. And, now we shall wait for action [from ECP],” he noted. He said the PPP delegation informed the electoral body about their concerns regarding certain postings and transfers.
Taj Haider said they also proposed to the electoral body that at the time of scrutiny of nomination papers, the concerned candidate or his agent should be present there to respond to any objection. Likewise, he added they also said that there should be a uniformed standard for all returning officers as to which nomination papers were to be accepted or rejected.
The PPP leader said that in routine practice, it has been up to the returning officers (ROs) to accept or reject any nomination paper but there should be a uniformed standard, circulated to all the ROs. He claimed this proposal was also appreciated by the ECP.
Another proposal, he added, presented to the commission was that the application for postal ballot should be uploaded instantly on the ECP website so that it was known who had applied for it. “Certain things were shared with us by the election observers, which were also conveyed to the commission regarding a mechanism for redressal of their issues, if any,” Taj Haider said.
On the occasion, PPP former minister Saeed Ghani called the MQM a dead horse of politics and claimed the MQM team had told a white lie about the PPP to the ECP. “PPP’s opponents knew fully well that they did not have political future in Sindh. Likewise, Jamaat-e-Islami is also trying to sabotage the general elections by raising one objection after the other,” he charged.
The PPP leader maintained that all officers in the district administrations and the police department of Sindh had been transferred, and now not a single officer who was serving in the PPP government was working there. He explained that they also informed the CEC about their concerns regarding delimitation of constituencies in Karachi’s District East. Faisal Karim Kandi said that the ECP has assured them that the schedule of the election will be released soon.
