ISLAMABAD: The electoral body has defended last week’s meeting between Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan, saying “some recent comments” regarding this meeting have been made contrary to the facts.
“It is not unusual for constitutional and administrative officers to meet with the Election Commission on official matters,” the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said in a statement on Monday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Speaker PA met senior ECP officials including CEC after sending a reference to the ECP seeking disqualification of PTI-backed 25 lawmakers over “unparliamentary conduct.”
The ECP said in its statement that the CEC held several meetings with the former President of Pakistan Arif Alvi on matters such as Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Internet Voting, which fell outside the constitutional scope of the President.
“Personally, the Chief Election Commissioner has also met with several leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, former General Secretary Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, at their request,” the ECP said.
“Similarly, meetings had been held between the Chief Election Commissioner and former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at the Chief Minister’s office concerning official matters. It should be noted that Members of the Election Commission routinely meet with other Chief Ministers and senior officials to fulfil their official responsibilities. Therefore, it is essential to assess whether such engagements which were considered acceptable at that time and are now are being incorrectly portrayed for the purpose of propaganda,” said the ECP.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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