ISLAMABAD: The Provincial Election Commissioner, Punjab, Mehboob Anwar, who has been accused by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman of getting millions of bogus ballot papers printed in the run-up to the 2013 elections, appears to have been sidelined by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Mr Anwar has been granted leave for two months from Aug 11, the day Imran Khan accused him and another ECP official of playing a key role in rigging the general elections.

When contacted, an ECP official said Mr Anwar had applied for leave before Eid because he wanted to proceed to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj.

The leave was notified on Aug 13 and Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Khaleeq-ur-Rahman, who was to retire on Aug 11, was given a two-month extension to take care of the office in the absence of Mr Anwar, he added.

The official rejected as baseless the speculation that Mr Anwar had fled the country. He was preparing to leave for Haj next week and would return in the second week of October.

He said the approval of leave had nothing to do with Mr Khan’s allegations against Mr Anwar. The allegations about printing of bogus ballot papers had already been rejected by the ECP and the commission had record of the ballot papers sent to each returning officer and the unused ballot papers returned by them, the official added.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014