PTI calls for reconstitution of ECP

Lahore: The political strategy committee (PSC) of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday called for reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and expressed its concerns over the failure of the ECP to implement the Supreme Court’s order for conducting delimitations and voters’ verification in Karachi.

The PSC met here at the PTI central secretariat with the party chief Imran Khan in the chair. The meeting took stock of the prevalent political situation in the country and the party’s contacts with other likeminded political forces for possible alliance and seat-adjustments for the upcoming elections.

The PTI meeting reiterated its demand for resignation of President Asif Zardari, stating that being the co-chairman of the PPP, the president could not do justice with his role of overseeing the holding of general elections, hence, his stay in the presidency would make the election process doubtful.

PTI President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and PTI Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed the committee on the political contacts made with different political parties in this regard.

About possible electoral alliances with other political parties, the PSC reiterated its stance that the PTI was ready to talk with all those political parties which are not part of federal or provincial governments.

The meeting also reviewed the performance of the ECP with a specific reference to the Supreme Court’s verdict to conduct delimitations and voters’ verification drive in Karachi, the misuse of taxpayers’ money by the federal and provincial governments and the possible alliances and seat-adjustments by the PTI with other political forces of the country.

Expressing its full confidence in the chief election commissioner, the meeting voiced its concerns over the poor performance of the ECP in implementation of the apex court orders as well as checking the misuse of state resources by federal and Punjab governments. The meeting said that the four members of the ECP appointed by the provincial governments should be appointed afresh and only non-partisan individuals should be appointed to overlook the polls.

The committee observed that despite several letters written and evidence produced to the CEC about the misuse of taxpayers’ money for election campaigns by federal and provincial governments, the ECP has yet to take any action to bring this practice to an end.

The committee also discussed the ‘jobs-for-votes policy’ of the federal and provincial governments and stated that despite ECP’s banning of new inductions, job were being doled out to the people with notifications being made in back-dates.

The PSC said that the government and its institutions should have taken all necessary steps to create conducive environment for holding free, fair and transparent general elections in the country.