ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday explained its constitutional position, saying being a constitutional body, it is only working within its mandate and undertaking its legal responsibilities without taking “direction from anybody”.

In a statement, a spokesman of the ECP said that the Commission is a constitutional body and is carrying out its work according to the Constitution, the law, and its mandate.

“It is not doing any other work or taking direction from anyone, but fulfilling its constitutional and legal responsibilities in accordance with the mandate, completely impartially, fearlessly, freely and according to the constitutional oath taken by all the honourable members, with impartiality and transparency, and it performs only those matters assigned to them by the Constitution,” the ECP spokesman said.

The statement comes following criticism from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over the “failure” to announce the election date in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa followed by the Supreme Court’s summoning of the chief election commissioner (CEC) in a case related to the transfer of former Lahore capital city police officer as well as President Dr Arif Alvi’s letter to the CEC summoning him for an “urgent” meeting.

The ECP spokesman further explained that the Commission has so far decided hundreds of petitions through the benches formed by the CEC on a daily basis.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023