ECP had to take DROs and ROs from bureaucracy: spokesperson

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Saturday clarified that they were left with no other option but to opt for bureaucracy after no positive headway was made on their request to the judiciary to spare judicial officers for appointment as DROs and ROs in the 2024 elections.

An ECP spokesperson denied some reports attributed to the chief election commissioner (CEC), clarifying that during the hearing on Friday for transfer petitions regarding three local NA constituencies, the counsel for a petitioner had said before the commission that the elections of 1977 and 2024 were conducted by the bureaucracy and these were the most dubious elections. “Therefore, returning officers and district returning officers should have been appointed from the judiciary for the 2024 elections,” the counsel had contended.

According to the spokesperson, while replying to the counsel, the CEC clarified that he had personally met the chief justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Lahore High Court for the appointment of the judiciary in the 2024 elections and communication was also made in this context but no positive outcome was achieved. Therefore, there was no option left to them but to appoint officers from the administration as DROs and ROs.

The spokesman said that apart from this, all the statements attributed to the CEC were false and misleading. He contended that the case on three MNAs applications for transfer of petitions pending before the only election tribunal in the federal capital has also been reported in national newspapers.