No pressure on ECP: secretary

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad Saturday said there was no pressure on the Election Commission, as it had complete authority.

Talking to media persons, he said the Election Commission was enjoying complete powers and all the state institutions were cooperating with it. The ECP, he noted, would take up the matter pertaining to three Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (AAT) candidates ‘allegedly involved in terrorism’ as per the United Nations list. He explained the names of the persons had been provided by the United Nations and shared with them by the Ministry of Interior. He, however, said mere accusations could not constitute basis for action. They are: Muhammad Ashraf, candidate for NA-149, Sahiwal, Muhammad Ahsan Ranjha, PP-67, Mandi Bahauddin, and Zafar Iqbal, candidate for PP-113, Faisalabad. He said notices had been issued to them to appear before the Election Commission tomorrow (Monday) at 10:00am. The AAT has fielded 250 candidates for the National Assembly and provincial assemblies. The subject of the notices is: “Pakistan’s commitments under the FATF and participation of Milli Muslim League in general elections 2018 from the platform of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek.” Babar Yaqoob maintained that the institutions were acting according to the Election Commission’s instructions, including the military, judiciary and provincial governments. "I clearly say that we do not have pressure from any institution," he maintained. He said all political parties were freely carrying out their election campaign and there was no restriction on them. Replying to a question, he said that the results would be announced through the state-run television and that the result management system would be operational on July 25. Explaining the security measures with regards to the elections, he said about 450,000 policemen and 350,000 soldiers would perform security duties and they all would be acting under the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission and the presiding officer.