President’s act improper: CEC: Speeches at public meetings
By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, June 30: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (Retd) Qazi Mohammad Farooq said on Saturday that it was inappropriate for the president to address public meetings that were political in nature.
Talking briefly to reporters after a meeting with a delegation of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), the CEC expressed the hope that a code of conduct would soon be formulated in consultation with political parties to ensure free and fair polls.
In response to a question about a large number of names missing from the voter lists, the CEC said all the eligible voters would be included in the electoral rolls before the announcement of the election schedule.
Mr Farooq said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was busy in receiving objections on the draft voter lists in the first phase and the final lists would be issued in the second phase. He said the names of the missing eligible voters would be included during the third phase of the process. He said the ECP would send mobile teams to the rain- and flood-affected areas to prepare voter lists in the last phase.
Earlier, the MMA delegation, led by Liaqat Baloch, delivered a letter of MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed. Other members of the delegation were Dr Farid Paracha, Maulana Merajuddin, Mian Mohammad Aslam and Saifullah Gondal.
In his letter, Qazi Hussain Ahmed has expressed serious concern over the names of about 30 per cent of the eligible voters that are missing from the draft electoral lists. The MMA chief has asked the CEC to complete the process of preparation of the voter lists as soon as possible so that the rulers cannot use it as an excuse to delay the elections.
The MMA chief alleged that some of the ruling coalition parties had managed to include “ghost voters” in the lists.
The MMA delegation drew CEC’s attention towards the faulty, complicated and non-transparent procedure adopted by the ECP for preparation of voter lists.
They also drew his attention towards President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s act of addressing public meetings of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and termed it a pre-poll rigging. They asked the CEC to use his constitutional powers in this regard.
