JI wants autonomous ECP for fair polls

LAHORE: Central Shoora of Jamaat-e-Islami has demanded that Election Commission of Pakistan be made an independent and autonomous institution in administrative as well as financial matters like the Supreme Court to ensure fair, free and impartial elections in future.

A resolution adopted by the JI central decision-making body presided over by Senator Sirajul Haq stressed that the nominations of candidates for assemblies should be adjudged on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. Shoora also called for switching over to the proportionate representation system in order to wipe out the hold of a few individuals and families in national politics. It suggested that in the beginning, election to 50 percent of the seats should be held under proportionate representation system.

The JI central body demanded that election staff must be permanent and the ECP should have full authority of postings, transfers and taking disciplinary action against them. In case of complaints, the Returning Officers and the Presiding Officers should be held responsible and if the charges against them were proved, the responsible officer should be punished with fine, imprisonment and even dismissal from service. It demanded that candidates spending beyond the prescribed limit must be disqualified and also awarded five-year jail term. Likewise, it said, a limit of election expenditure should also be laid down for the political parties.

It demanded that internal elections of all political parties should be held under the supervision of election commission. It suggested that election commission should provide transport to the voters and facilities should be provided to female voters to ensure their maximum participation. Shoora also called for adopting a mechanism for the voting of the overseas Pakistanis.

Through another resolution, the JI Shoora expressed hope that process of accountability beginning with the ouster of Nawaz Sharif would continue until all corrupt elements, including the ruling elite, members of the armed forces, the judiciary, bureaucrats and businessmen, etc, were brought to book. It said that the evil of corruption was the violation of the Shariah on one hand and the root cause of economic crisis and social decay. It had also lowered the image of the democratic institutions in the country. It said that elections were nearing and it was imperative that moral, financial and ideological corruption was controlled so that honest people could win the elections.

campaigns: The outgoing batch of Government College University’s Fine Arts Department on Friday put on display the advertisement campaigns on social issues and brands as their final projects.

GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah inaugurated the exhibition at the university’s Minhas Art Gallery in which 17 final year students of Bachelor in Fine Arts (Hons) displayed their projects.

The projects comprised of complete advertisement material, including press and electronic media advertisements, calendars, pamphlets and social media pages for promotion of their brands and raising awareness about social issues.

Speaking on the occasion, GCU Fine Arts Department Chairman Irfan Ullah Babar said art work either manual or digital; creativity, imagination, technical knowledge and aesthetic sense were must for an artist. He said the models, used in different advertisement campaigns, were also the university students.