ISLAMABAD: The Spe­cial Parliamen­tary Commit­tee on Electoral Reforms will meet here on Monday (today) to receive a briefing from officials of the Printing Cor­po­­ration of Pakistan (PCP) on the printing of ballot papers for last year’s general elections.

Besides, officials of the Elec­tion Com­mis­­sion of Pak­is­­­tan (ECP) will present ‘fact­sheets’ on the polls before the committee, according to the agenda of the meeting.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the party that has raised serious questions about the fairness of the polls and on whose demand the committee has been formed, has an­­nounced that it will boycott the proceedings.

Three PTI lawmakers at­­ten­ded initial meetings of the committee and also took part in the election of its chairman, but stayed away from its last meeting held on Sept 19.

Now the party demands a thorough investigation into alleged rigging through a judicial commission. More­over, PTI chief Imran Khan wants Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign from his office, at least for the time the commission completes its job.

Political experts attach significance to Monday’s meeting because Imran Khan has alleged in his recent speeches that the ballot papers were got printed by a private printing press as part of the rigging. He has named a printing press in Lahore’s Urdu Bazaar where, according to him, the ballot papers were printed. The owner of the press has approached a court of law over the allegation.

Monday’s meeting is being considered important also because of the posting of a controversial post-election review report by the ECP on its website. The report held returning officers brought from lower judiciary responsible for the election fiasco. But the ECP disowned the report next day after the PTI leaders said it provided an evidence of the rigging.

Published in Dawn, September 29th , 2014