ISLAMABAD, April 24: Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq has said that the next general election will be held on time and under a caretaker set-up and opposition parties should not have any doubts about fairness of the process.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with a three-member delegation of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) on Monday, the CEC said that those in the caretaker government would not be allowed to take part in the elections.

The PPP leaders who called on the CEC were Senator Dr Babar Awan and MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman.

Responding to PPP delegation’s assertion that the CEC should ensure the return of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to the country before the polls, Justice (retd) Farooq said the election commission could not play any role in this regard.

He said he was not afraid of anyone and would perform his duty with honesty and use his energy to ensure free and transparent elections. He said the voters’ list would be computerised and there would be one list for both the local government and the general elections.

Speaking at a news conference later, the PPP leaders said they had informed the CEC that free and fair polls were not possible without the participation of Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif in the process.

Senator Awan said the CEC had powers to order the government to facilitate the return of the two exiled leaders before elections. He said they had urged the CEC to stop Gen Pervez Musharraf from addressing public meetings of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and announcing development schemes as it amounted to pre-poll rigging.

He said the government had intensified what he called a character assassination campaign of Ms Bhutto in the media, which was also a form of pre-poll rigging.

“We welcome the two commitments made by the CEC, that elections will be held on time and under a caretaker set-up,” he said.

He said that they had met the CEC on the directives of Ms Bhutto. “Despite having all reservations, we met the CEC because we do not want to let the government escape from the elections,” he added.

Mr Naveed Qamar said the CEC should not wait for the announcement of the election date and take steps to ensure free and fair polls as the process had already started.

Ms Rehman said the CEC had also been informed that fair elections were not possible in presence of district and tehsil nazims. She said a paper titled ‘electoral reforms’ had been presented to the CEC.