ISLAMABAD: ECP on Friday announced to have removed from job its 14 officials, saying inquiries against two senior officers - a director and a district election commissioner - as well as a senior personal assistant were also in final stages for their allegedly irregular appointments.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took this action in view of an inquiry report submitted by an inquiry committee that was formed to probe complaints regarding irregularities in appointments, made in 2015, at the Provincial Election Commission (PEC) in Karachi, Sindh, the electoral body said adding that the inquiry committee was headed by a Basic Scale (BS) 20 officer. Out of the officials removed from jobs, 11 were sacked and three were handed forced retirements, an ECP statement said.
The sacked officials include five Junior Personal Assistants; Shirjeel, Asadullah, Syed Anas Mujahid, Waqas Ahmad and Muhammad Shoaib Iftikhar, four Senior Assistants Syed Muhammad Razi, Syed Muneeb Ali, Quran Khalil and Syed Haris Mahmood and two Junior Assistants - Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Asif.
Moreover, three officials; Senior Assistant Allah Bakhsh Rajar, Assistant Syed Zameer Haider and Junior Assistant Mukhtar Ali were handed forced retirement. Inquiry against Director Information Technology (IT) Abdul Qadir, District Election Commissioner (DEC) Tabinda Khalique and Senior Personal Assistant Syed Salman is in final stages, ECP said.
Meanwhile, the ECP announced that by-polls on Sindh Assembly's seat PS-52 Umerkot II would be held on January 18, 2021. The ECP also appointed District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) for by-polls on seven seats the polling date for which was not announced till the filing of this report on Friday evening. These seats are Sindh Assembly's PS-43 Sanghar-III and PS-88 Malir-II, Punjab Assembly's PP-51 Gujranwala-I, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly's PK-63 Nowshera-III, Balochistan Assembly's PB-20 Pishin-III, and National Assembly's NA-45 Kurram-I and NA-75 Sialkot-IV.
Earlier on Thursday, just over two weeks after postponing the by-elections on eight seats till January 31 next year on NCOC's recommendation, the ECP announced to hold by-polls forthwith on these eights seats on the demand of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its Sindh government without consulting the federal government, all the other three provinces and any other political party except PPP.
The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja attended by senior ECP officials as well as PPP leader Taj Haider, Chief Minister Sindh's Law Advisor Murtaza Wahab and other senior Sindh government officials. No representative from the federal government and other three provincial governments attended the meeting.
On the first of this month, the ECP had announced postponing by-polls on eight seats till January 31 next year on the recommendation of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in the backdrop of rapid spread of COVID-19 across the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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