PESHAWAR: Chief Election Commissioner MJ Sikandar Sultan Raja on Tuesday asked the officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan to ensure the provision of equal opportunities to all political parties, candidates and voters for participation in future polls and said no one should be favoured in the electoral process.

During his maiden visit to the ECP’s regional office here since appointment in Jan, the CEC said the commission was an impartial institution with the prime responsibility of holding free, fair and impartial elections in the country.

Provincial election commissioner Shareefullah Khan briefed the CEC about the issues related to the regional office. Other officials were also present.

Mr Shareefullah briefed the CEC about arrangements made for updating electoral rolls and delimitation of constituencies for cantonment board and local government elections in the province.

He said the existing building of the regional office was insufficient for the day-to-day functions of the commission.

“The unavailability of official buildings and strong rooms on district and regional levels has created multiple problems for us,” he said.

The CEC said in the districts where ECP had plots, PC-I should be prepared for putting up own buildings, while plots should be secured for the purpose in the districts where the ECP didn’t have land.

He said another meeting would be held after a month to look into the progress on those issues.

The CEC said a meeting would be held next week in Islamabad on the matter.

He assured the officials that all-out efforts would be made to address their administrative problems.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020