ISLAMABAD, Jan 21: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto has asked the Election Commission to hold the forthcoming elections on the basis of computerized electoral rolls prepared in 1995.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (Rtd) Irshad Hasan Khan, the former prime minister reminded him that his predecessor Justice Qadeer Chaudhry had rejected the electoral lists recently prepared by Nadra which, she added, did not include the names of the entire PPP cabinet including herself as well as those of many other “political opponents”.

The former premier said the PPP believed that fair, free and impartial elections were necessary for the well-being of the country because, she observed, the culture of a peaceful, lawful change of government could only result from regular elections. The people of Bangladesh and India have managed to hold such fair elections, she pointed out.

She said that during the 1997 elections, there were two sets of electoral rolls — one was given to candidates and the other to presiding officers. The one given to presiding officers had scores of votes missing, she said and added, there were also votes that were subsequently stuffed in ballot boxes.

Emphasizing the need for a neutral interim setup to ensure fair elections, Ms Bhutto said the people of Bangladesh transferred power to their judiciary for a neutral, interim government during elections. This is one solution, Ms Bhutto said and added, another is that proposed by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy which envisages elections under a government of national consensus.

The third and minimum requirement to prevent partisanship during the electoral process is induction of neutral persons in the government who do not have axes to grind against any political personality, she pleaded.

Ms Bhutto also demanded that results of the elections should be announced by the returning officers as was done in 1985.