November 29, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 18, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for its “inability” to stop Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain from violating the election code of conduct despite having prior information.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the party had formally informed the ECP secretary through a letter and over telephone on Tuesday that the PML chief would be attending a function to distribute allotment letters of residential plots among journalists which was a clear violation of the election code.

However, he said, the ECP did not stop the PML president as he proceeded ahead with the distribution of allotment letters later in the afternoon in Rawalpindi.

Mr Babar said in his letter, he brought into the notice of the ECP the reports that the PML president would be distributing allotment letters among journalists in the Punjab House. He was of the view that while allotment of plots to journalists was a welcome step, the distribution of allotment letters by the head of a political party was against the code of conduct issued by the ECP for the political parties.

He further wrote, “the allotment letters can be sent to the journalists by post instead of illegally using the occasion to advance the political objectives of a political party. Kindly, therefore, immediately stop Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain or any other political person from personally distributing the allotment letters to the journalists and the same be distributed by post using the normal official procedure.”

Mr Babar said the election exercise had lost credibility as the ECP was not independent and could not enforce its own code which had been reduced to a joke.

Meanwhile, PPP Punjab information secretary Farzana Raja in a separate statement accused the provincial government of pre- poll rigging and alleged that the “politically-appointed senior officers” were using official resources to facilitate the PML.

The PPP leader drew the attention of the CEC towards the ongoing pre-poll rigging by the authorities and use of official resources and large-scale transfers of judges.

Ms Raja demanded that the CEC should take steps to ensure free, fair and transparent election, which under the present circumstances seemed not possible. She said high-ranking officials, who had been politically appointed and unduly promoted by the former Punjab government, were still serving for the former chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and his cabinet members and using all government resources to influence the next election.

She also alleged that local government representatives were also using their authority and resources to facilitate the PML in the election, adding that the PPP had already demanded suspension of the local bodies.