July 23, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12,1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 22: Chief Election Commissioner Justice Irshad Hasan Khan on Monday asked the government to lift ban on political activities “at the earliest” and disapproved of the use of official machinery by the governors for their election campaigns.

Talking to journalists, the CEC said that the delay in the finalization of procedure for the Senate election and for the special seats for women and technocrats was creating problems for the election commission and the political parties.

“It is unfair that the political parties be kept in the dark when the election date is so near,” he remarked.

The CEC said the election commission was passing through a difficult time, and added that he needed the support of the press and political parties for holding free and fair elections.

Besides, during a meeting with a delegation of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal led by Liaquat Baloch, the CEC said he condemned the use of official machinery for electioneering.

The condemnation came after the delegation had alleged that provincial governors had already launched their election campaigns and they were going down to the district level to campaign for the political parties that were supportive of the military government. The delegation had said that the governor houses had become hubs of political activities and certain political parties were being openly backed by the government.

The MMA had pointed out that two out of the governors had already declared to contest elections. To which the CEC responded: “If it is correct, (then) I condemn it”.

He advised the MMA team to forget about the referendum as it had nothing to do with the holding of referendum. “It is past and a closed chapter...forget about it.”

The CEC further said that he had opposed the referendum and that the election commission had given no proposal for holding the referendum.

The CEC repeated his call that incumbent ministers desiring to contest the forthcoming elections should relinquish their offices well before the polling day.

The CEC said he had written to the president that the principle of neutrality demanded that incumbent ministers seeking to contest the elections should relinquish their offices or they should be told by the president to resign well before the election day.

In reply to a question, the CEC ruled out the possibility of postponement of elections. “The legitimacy of the present government,” he said, “was interlinked and intertwined with the holding of elections.”

Justice Irshad said that he being the author of the judgment which had validated the military takeover, was conscious of his duties and was sure that elections would be held.

He said the election commission would announce the election schedule soon after the completion of the electoral rolls which would be published on August 5.

The CEC said that personally he was against the graduation condition for those aspiring to become members of parliament or provincial assemblies. “Since the Supreme Court has passed the judgment, I would not say more on the subject,” he said and added that court decisions might be wrong but we should learn to accept them.

The CEC said he believed in consultation with the political parties and added that he was in constant touch with Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, Raja Zafrul Haq, Aitzaz Ahsan, Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

He said it was incorrect that the election commission had not finalized any code of conduct for the forthcoming elections. The election commission, he pointed out, had decided to invite suggestions from the political parties by August 5, if the provisions of the code of conduct made for the 1997 elections be retained or any of its provisions be modified, amended, deleted, or some new provisions be added in the code of conduct for the forthcoming elections.

The CEC assured the MMA team that he would publish the list of the degree equivalent to BA. He said he had already written to the University Grants Commission in this regard.

A delagation of Millat Party led by Javed Jabbar also met the CEC, adds APP