Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has called for giving financial and institutional autonomy to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), saying that without a strong and independent ECP free, fair and transparent elections would remain a distant dream. JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch stated this while talking to reporters here on Friday after a meeting with the newly-appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) former justice Sardar Raza Khan.
Baloch stressed the need for an ECP with full authority like Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), adding that JI has presented its recommendations regarding the election reforms, which also include the demand of proportional representation in the parliament. The JI Secretary General said that his party had requested the CEC to urge the sitting members of the ECP to voluntarily resign. He said that JI was not in a position to ask PTI chief Imran Khan to call off his protest until the government formed a judicial commission to probe the alleged riggings in 2013 general elections. He said that if the judicial commission confirmed massive rigging in the general elections, then Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif would have to resign and the assemblies would be dissolved.
Liaquat Baloch said the ECP had been controversial in the past and fingers were pointed at all national and provincial elections held in the country in the past. He said that the current election commissioner was appointed after consensus among all the political forces of the country and he enjoys the support of all the parties. He said that JI and other political forces expect the current CEC will take solid steps pertaining to electoral reforms.
He said that it was need of the hour to empower the commission in term of administrative and monetary matters like Supreme Court of Pakistan. He said that JI had proposed the ECP to restrain all those candidates from taking part in elections who are not meeting criteria laid down in article 62 and 63 of the constitution, introduce biometric system and electronic machines in the electioneering process.
While talking about resumption of talks between PTI and the government, he said that only the commission would resolve the issue between the two sides, hoping that the issues would be resolved through dialogue. He further said that the government could not ask PTI to end protest demonstrations without taking some practical and solid measures. The masses would get a sigh of relief if dialogue between the government and PTI yielded fruits.
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