PESHAWAR: Reacting to the criticism of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by prime minister and federal ministers, Supreme Court Bar Association president Abdul Lateef Afridi has said that they should attend to more pressing demands of the people rather than to pressurising and harassing the independent commission.

“The demand by the prime minister and the cabinet ministers that ECP and its members must resign is ridiculous if not naïve,” he said in a press statement issued here on Saturday.

He stated that ECP set an example in the history of Pakistan by annulling the election of NA-75 Daska and also responding to the prime minister’s criticism in a courageous manner.

“In Pakistan, all other institutions need to be encouraged to perform their own duties and not to be influenced by any consideration to encroach upon other’ area,” he said.

Mr Afridi stated that ECP being constitutional institution needed to be truly independent, self-supporting and autonomous. The present commission had made an excellent start in the right direction, he added.

“For the prime minister, there are more urgent and pressing demands like controlling price hike, inflation, unemployment, corruption and other socioeconomic evils as the said problems have crossed all past limits and call for urgent remedial steps,” he said.

He said that lawyers would defend ECP by all means if it was unreasonably attacked, harassed or deterred in the performance of its duty.

“The Supreme Court Bar Association fully supports the independent and courageous acts of ECP and as president of the bar, I will urge for similar courageous acts by all institutions so that democracy, constitutionalism and independence of such institutions are strengthened further,” he maintained.

Mr Afridi said that encroaching the areas of others by crossing the limits prescribed by the Constitution led Pakistan to so many problems, which otherwise could have been avoided.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2021