ISLAMABAD:
During Wednesday’s hearing of the inquiry commission in the May 2013 alleged rigging, a discrepancy was noticed in the procedure of determining the number of printed ballot papers, as returning officers (ROs) described two different procedures, reported by media.
The three-judge commission, headed by chief justice Nasirul Mulk, was recording statements of five ROs regarding their demand for the printing of ballot papers.
The ROs, who had performed election duty in the Khyber-Pakhtukhwa (K-P) and Sindh in the general elections, told the commission that it was the Provincial Election Commissioners (PEC), who had determined the number of ballot papers to be printed for each constituency.
However, two ROs from Punjab, who had performed duty respectively at NA-53 and NA-118, admitted that they had given their tentative assessment regarding the printing of ballot papers and the requisition for the printing of ballot papers was made on their recommendations, reportedly.
Both the ROs said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had not given them any action plan regarding the printing of ballot papers as well as consolidation and compiling of election result. Saeed Awan, the RO in NA-53 Taxila, said the final demand regarding the printing of ballot papers were given by DROs concerned.
Another RO, Mobeen Bano, who performed duty at Sindh’s NA-222 Hyderabad constituency, said the POs were not properly trained. “Therefore, they could not furnish the election material correctly while some of them did not fill up the Form 15s.”
