ECP meets tomorrow to discuss rigging allegations

Published August 26, 2014
The meeting will be presided over by acting Chief Election Commissioner Anwar Zaheer Jamali and attended by members and senior officials of the commission. — File photo
The meeting will be presided over by acting Chief Election Commissioner Anwar Zaheer Jamali and attended by members and senior officials of the commission. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to meet here on Wednesday to discuss the situation arising of the string of allegations against it, an official told Dawn on Monday.

The announcement comes a day after a former additional secretary of the commission alleged that returning officers for the 2013 general elections had been appointed and controlled by the then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Mohammad Afzal Khan, the former additional secretary, levelled other allegations questioning the fairness of the polls.

The meeting will be presided over by acting Chief Election Commissioner Anwar Zaheer Jamali and attended by members and senior officials of the commission.

A senior ECP official said that the commission had taken a number of steps to make the electoral process transparent and credible, but conceded that it had its limitations. He said preparation of error-free electoral rolls after removing multiple and duplicate entries from them and introduction of photographed rolls for presiding officers and the system for biometric verification of voters were some of the landmark steps.

The official said a set of electoral reforms had been prepared before the 2013 polls, but the same could not be passed by parliament. He said the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms would meet on Tuesday, adding that the ECP had prepared draft electoral reforms package which would be shared with the parliamentary panel.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2014

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