ECP vows not to be blackmailed by any party

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesperson Haroon Shinwari on Thursday said they will not be blackmailed by any party. He cautioned PTI Spokesman Fawad Chaudhry to desist from issuing statement sregarding the official vehicle in use of the chief election commissioner. He contended that the only purpose of such baseless and concocted statement was to undermine the sanctity of the constitutional body. 

He said that Fawad had requested for a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, but he had declined to meet him alone because of PTI cases being heard in the Election Commission.

The chief election commissioner had said that it was a pre-requisite for justice that he should not meet the lawyer of a party, whose cases were pending with the constitutional body. However, he had shown his readiness for meeting, provided the lawyer of the other party of the related case was also present on the occasion.  This, he noted, saddened the PTI leader, who during media talk, made a baseless statement about the chief election commissioner with regards to his official car.

Shinwari stated that the Election Commission had vehemently rejected the statement and asked Fawad not to speak against the constitutional body, otherwise, legal proceedings could be initiated against him as per the Constitution. The Election Commission, he emphasised, reiterated that it could never be ‘cowed down’ or blackmailed by any political party or a figure.