ISLAMABAD: A meeting called to grant voting right to overseas Pakistanis could not be completed as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary walked out in protest following allegations levelled by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the commission.
The situation became unpleasant in the meeting of the sub-committee of the electoral reforms committee when PTI’s Dr Shireen Mazari questioned th
e official of the ECP why the commission had not consulted members ov
er the appointments of pr
ovincial elect
ion commissioners in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. She added that the way the appointments were being made would pave the way for rigging in the upcoming elections. To this, the ECP secretary while expressing his annoyance retorted that the PTI always levels allegations against the ECP in its every meeting. Convener of the meeting, Zahid Hamid, told the newsmen that appointments of pr
ovincial elect
ion commissioners was an internal matter of the ECP, which could not be debated upon in the meeting of the committee.
On the othe
r hand, PTI members Dr Shireen Mazari, Dr Arif Alvi and Senator Shibli Faraz, while expressing regret ov
er the attitude of the ECP secretary, said that parliamentarians had the right to ask questions pertaining to the ECP but the attitude adopted by th
e official was not congenial.
