ISLAMABAD: The parliament and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have locked horns over the issue of delimitations as the parliamentary committee has rejected the objections raised by the ECP.
In its stance, the ECP had stated that parliament cannot interfere in the affairs of the ECP, adding that if anyone has objections, a petition may be submitted to the commission then. However, the parliamentarians warned to move the Supreme Court if their concerns aren’t allayed.
After an in-camera meeting of the NA Special Committee on Delimitations on Friday, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Muhammad Raza, wherein he defended the reservations of the special committee.
In the letter, the speaker said that the committee was neither formed to dictate the commission nor it will issue any instructions to it. The committee will listen to the point of view of all the political parties and submit its recommendations in the house as the parliament would make final decision on the matter.
The committee has decided to continue its functioning despite the objections of ECP as the parliamentarians were of the view that they could not stop working due to the ECP’s objections. They said that ECP had sent the letter in haste on the basis of some misunderstandings.
Earlier on Thursday, the ECP had issued an order to the committee members requesting them not to interfere in its mandate. The committee had met to formulate recommendations about the proposed delimitation of constituencies as announced by the commission on March 5, when ECP officials handed Federal Minister for Privatisation Daniyal Aziz, convener of the committee’s working group, the official order signed by all four members of the commission and the CEC.
The ECP had urged the lawmakers to refrain from the interfering in its business, saying: “Only joint or several proposals/representations by a voter(s) of the constituency are entertainable by the commission. The role of any other agency or institution is neither mentioned in the law nor is permissible under the Constitution.”
