ISLAMABAD: Most political parties on Thursday objected to the Election Commission’s plans to bar MNAs and MPAs from campaigning in the local government elections and opposed the appointment of government officers as election staff.

The representatives of almost all major parties, who had been invited by the ECP to a consultative meeting on the local bodies’ elections in Punjab and Sindh, also asked the commission to hold polling in Lahore and Lodhran in the third phase of the electoral process because of the by-elections in the two National Assembly constituencies on Oct 12.

Also read: ECP members not to resign; ready to face SJC proceedings

According to sources, the PPP and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) represetatives reiterated their demand for resignation of all four ECP members, but Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza told them that it was not the forum to raise such a demand and advised them to adopt a constitutional path for the purpose.

The sources said that when the representatives of political parties asked the ECP to appoint judges as returning officers, they were told that the Supreme Court had already turned down the commission’s request in this regard. The ECP advised them to collectively approach the Supreme Court for the purpose.

ECP plan to bar lawmakers from campaigning in LG polls criticised

Talking to Dawn after the meeting, PTI’s Ishaq Khakwani said his party had submitted written proposals to the ECP for holding the local bodies’ elections in Punjab and Sindh in a transparent manner. He termed the holding of consultations a “very late move” by the ECP, saying the exercise should have been carried out at the time of delimitations in the two provinces.

In reply to a question, Mr Khakwani said that almost all political parties, including the PTI, wanted the ECP to delay the local government elections in Lahore and Lodhran because overlapping of campaigns would create complications and problems for the ECP as well as the parties.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Afrasiab Khattak of the Awami National Party (ANP) asked why such consultative meetings had not been held at the time of local government elections in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He claimed that during the meeting every party, except the PTI, had complained about rigging in the LG polls in KP. Mr Khattak said the parties had asked the ECP to appoint returning officers either from the judiciary or civil society.

PPP’s Sherry Rehman regretted that the ECP did not have its own staff to conduct the elections and to oversee arrangements. She said the commission was holding the polls at a time when about 100 petitions challenging the delimitations were still pending in Sindh.

She said that MNAs and MPAs should be allowed to take part in campaigns and a ban should be imposed only on government officers.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad confirmed that the parties had objected to the appointment of government officers as ROs and made different proposals. He said some of the appointments had been made in Punjab after the announcement of election schedule and the ECP was looking into the matter.

He said no decision had been taken on using the biometric system in the LG elections. He said only one per cent additional ballot papers would be published for the upcoming polls.

The ECP secretary ruled out the possibility of delaying the local bodies’ elections because of Haj and Muharram. He said the commission would soon hold a meeting to consider the demands and proposals made by the parties.

Earlier, the CEC told the parties’ representatives that the ECP was working to bring democratic and political stability to the country. He assured them that the commission would take all possible measures to hold the upcoming local government elections in a free and fair manner in accordance with the constitution.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play