KARACHI, July 26: The Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, has said all possible efforts would be made to ensure free, fair, impartial and transparent elections.

“If free, fair and transparent elections are held once, the fate of the country will change,” he said.

Talking to journalists after visiting the offices of the Provincial Election Commission here on Thursday, Justice Ebrahim said that for holding transparent elections all personnel doing the job would have to work like a team.

He said the new computerised electoral rolls would be issued on July 31 and anomalies found in the lists would be rectified.

Responding to a question, he said he was trying to understand the working of the election commission and to acquaint himself with the difficulties faced by the election staff.

He said it was his first interaction with officials of the provincial election commission and he found that they were quite experienced and aware of their responsibilities.

Justice Ebrahim was earlier briefed by Provincial Election Commissioner Sono Khan Baloch on the working of his office, the cases pending in courts, their experience and issues they faced during by-elections and general elections.

According to sources, the chief election commissioner asked the officials to maintain neutrality and avoid any sort of contacts with leaders or political parties because it was necessary to gain people’s confidence for fair and impartial elections.

Justice Ebrahim said he would be visiting other provincial election commissions to have first-hand knowledge about the problems and difficulties faced by them.

He said the holding of transparent elections would not only be his test but of the entire nation because only fair and free elections could reflect the true aspirations of people.