No pressure from Presidency, says CEC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim on Friday said there was no pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from anyone, including the Aiwan-e-Sadar, adding that no such pressure would ever come.
Talking to reporters upon his visit to the ECP office Lahore, he said the ECP’s agenda was to hold transparent election.
To a question on dual nationality issue, he said a meeting of senior officers of the ECP would take place on Tuesday and the dual citizenship issue would be decided in that meeting. “We disqualified legislators having dual nationality. The Supreme Court verdict encouraged us as the ECP and apex court both want transparent and fair election. We all want that we are represented in the parliament by a person who is 100 percent Pakistani and not half-Pakistani and half-foreigner,” he said.
Referring to elections in Balochistan, the CEC said the situation there was heading towards improvement. “All political parties want to participate in elections in Balochistan so that the people of Balochistan can become part of politics,” he added.
“We all have one-point agenda. There is no other option left before us except holding fair and transparent election. Our dream for a new Pakistan will not come true if fair and transparent elections are not held. There were lapses in all elections that took place in the past and the time has come these acts be corrected. Holding transparent elections is my obligation now,” Ebrahim remarked.
He said electoral lists were fully prepared and it was a duty of voters to trace their names in the lists. However, no political party has seen the electoral lists so far, he said, adding that if someone believed his name was not recorded in the lists, he should get enrolled. Meanwhile, Punjab’s provincial election commission issued the election schedule for province’s constituencies whose representatives have been disqualified in wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling of September 20.
It has been announced that nomination papers of candidates for the elections on constituencies whose representatives were recently disqualified for holding dual nationality could be filed on October 8 and 9. The papers would be scrutinised on October 10 and 11, whereas the elections would be held on October 17. The constituencies where elections would take place include NA-107 Gujrat-IV, NA-162 Sahiwal-III, PP-26 Jhelum-III, PP-122 Sialkot-II, PP-144 Lahore-VIII and PP-92 Gujranwala-II. On September 20, the Supreme Court disqualified 11 members of parliament and provincial assemblies for holding dual nationality. The disqualified lawmakers will be facing legal proceedings by the ECP, which may entail a punishment of up to seven years and require them to reimburse all monetary benefits drawn by them up to the date they occupied public office.