Staying the by-polls by Supreme Court unconstitutional: Election Commission of Pakistan

Staying the by-polls by Supreme Court unconstitutional: Election Commission of Pakistan

Islamabad: (Monday, January 23, 2012) Secretary Election Commission (ECP) of Pakistan, Ishtiaq Khan said today that Supreme Court’s staying the scheduled by-polls was a violation of the constitution of Pakistan.

The secretary ECP maintained that instead of waiting for the new voters’ lists by NADRA to be provided, it was imperative to hold the by-polls on lists already available with the election body.

Supporting his argument, the secretary ECP stated that the apex court had announced its verdict without listening to them on the issue of by-elections. He said that the upcoming elections will be held under the old constituencies.

According to Ishtiaq Khan, the NADRA was not to hand over the final voters’ lists before May 25 this year. He also said that the apex court had stated in its ruling that the ECP was not a rubberstamp.

To him, the statement gave the impression as if rolls were being prepared on part of some other entity.

Earlier, commenting on the Supreme Court’s move to stay the scheduled by-elections, Justice Retired Hamid Ali Mirza, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan also termed the decision as against the constitution of Pakistan.

Sharing his views during a consultative meeting of Political parties and rest of the stakeholders on preparation of voters’ lists and electoral reforms, Justice Mirza criticized the Supreme Court for staying the by elections that
were scheduled to fill in the seats vacant by various political representatives.

Lamenting the SC move and the consequent decision, the chief of the ECP said that it was violation of the constitution. He said that the SC did not hear Election Commission of Pakistan’s view point before staying the by-elections.

Justice Mirza further added that if a seat fall vacant, it was their constitutional responsibility to hold elections on it within 60 days.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=10204

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Jan 23 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry