The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday brushed aside Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s claims over law and order situation during local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), saying it was the provincial government’s responsibility to maintain peace.
In a letter dispatched to PTI chief Imran Khan and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, the ECP termed Khan’s allegation against the commission “baseless”. It said that the Commission had asked for additional support for security from Interior Ministry and Pakistan Army to help the provincial government hold peaceful LG polls.
On Sunday, the PTI chairman and KP CM had blamed the ECP for widespread violence and mismanagement, saying that local administration was at the disposal of the commission. Nearly two dozen people were killed in different incidents of violence relating to the elections.
Reiterating his claim on Monday after attending the meeting of judicial commission (JC) probing alleged vote fraud, the PTI chief said the ECP should have completed its homework regarding local bodies elections in KP.
Declaring EC as the “sole cause” of all irregularities that took place during KP local bodies polls, Khan had said that EC should have realised that elections on such a massive scale cannot take place in one day and should have been organised in phases. He cited ‘lack of homework’ on the part of EC which led to irregularities in the polling process.
Moreover, Khan alleged that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq was being saved in the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA)’s report on electoral rigging.
Khan said that the NADRA chairman was being “put under pressure” due to which he went out of country before his hearing in court. He demanded that the court hearings of the election tribunal in NA-122 be held on daily basis and verdict be announced at the earliest as they have waited for two long years.
Following the accusations, NADRA has urged the PTI leadership not to issue derogatory statements against the institution and its chairman.
In a statement, NADRA said it would present record of all such remarks before the election tribunals concerned. It said NADRA defended its reports relating to different constituencies before election tribunals and it would do so in the case of NA-122 as well.