ISLAMABAD – In the backdrop of startling revelation of more than 37 million unverified and bogus votes in 2007 elector rolls, chief election commissioner has initiated an inquiry against a private firm which was hired by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for almost Rs 1 billion for making error-free electoral lists.
Election Commission Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan told Pakistan Today during an interview on Saturday that the ECP paid almost Rs 1 billion in 2007 to a private company for preparing error-free electoral rolls but, he added, the company could not deliver the desired results. Clarifying the media reports about millions of ‘bogus’ votes the soft spoken secretary said that it was misconception that 37 million votes were declared bogus by NADRA during verification process.
“There were only three million votes which were found bogus and the remaining could not be verified because of multiple counts like double entries and old Identity Cards,” he said. It was the ECP itself which released information to media, government and opposition parties that 37 million votes could not be verified, he added.
Answering a question regarding the holding of Local Bodies Election, Ishtiak Ahmed, who is reputed to be an honest and upright federal secretary, said that ECP had been working for conducting LBs elections; however, he proposed that LB elections should be held next year because ECP will complete its error-free electoral rolls by the end of December, this year.
He said the ECP was also in the process of making a strategy to implement article 62, which, he said, could not be implemented in its true spirit in the past. Article 62 deals with candidates’ character. Under this article, a parliamentarian must be honest (Ameen) and he should have adequate knowledge of Islamic teaching.
Ishtiak Ahmed said that in the coming elections, the ECP would ensure implementation of this article as political parties were also cooperating with ECP for revolutionarily changes in the existing political system. “Country’s fate links with the performance of EC and we have been doing our best to make it an independent institution,” he said.
To a query relating to ‘special treatment’ for the fake degree holders, he said that more than 20 cases had so far been sent to police for registration of FIR and IGPs of all the provinces had been issued directives in this regard. “If police will not register FIRs against fake degree holders, the concerned DPOs will be charged for contempt of court as the process was started on the directions of the Supreme Court,” he said.
He said that ECP has no record of MPs nationality. “Earlier, there was no mechanism to check parliamentarian’s nationality, but, now we are going to add a new column in nomination paper to block the way of dual nationality holders to the parliament,” he added.
It may be recalled here that Ishtiak Ahmed during the last month had sought premature retirement from the government service after refusing to succumb to the government pressure to become a part of ECP decision to postpone the by-elections in KP for the fourth time.
