ECP refutes Fawad Chaudhry's 'baseless' allegations against CEC

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday refuted all allegations levelled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, Aaj News reported.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the ECP stated that the accusations were false and that the commission could "not be influenced by unjust means".

The rebuttal came hours after Fawad lashed out at the CEC alleging that the latter was acting as a "crony" of the ruling alliance.

Fawad accused the CEC of appointing officials in an unfair manner, including people who worked with the current CEC in the past.

He also claimed that the CEC's office building cost Rs60 million and that four kanals of land were purchased for the ECP office in Sargodha for Rs320 million, despite claims of lack of funds for elections.

Senator Ejaz Chaudhary filed a reference against the CEC, and the PTI plans to send another. The ECP spokesperson denied all allegations and stated that all hiring was done transparently and that no close relative of any top official was given a job.

The commission also denied purchasing any private land for its offices, stating that all offices were built on state-owned land, and the land acquired for the commission's offices during the PTI's tenure was obtained from the Punjab government at official rates and then transferred to the Election Commission from the federal government's treasury.

"The election commission could not be pressured by any unjust means, and those who apologize to the commission do not make such statements," the statement said, referring to Chaudhry's apology in 2021 for his tirade against the electoral body. The commission hoped that all conspirators would fail in their nefarious intentions.