The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has informed the Supreme Court that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar was directly responsible for the mismanagement during the Daska by-polls in the NA-75 constituency, as it appointed “selected officers” to monitor the election.
In a response submitted to the apex court on Tuesday, the election watchdog said the by-polls were made controversial by the provincial government.
The Daska by-polls were declared void by the ECP amid allegations of rigging. It had ordered re-election in the constituency on March 18 that was later changed to April 10. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had challenged the ECP’s decision to declare polls void in the Supreme Court. The plea was, however, rejected by the SC.
During the proceedings, the PTI lawyer, Mohammad Shahzad Shaukat, apprised the bench that the ECP had exceeded its authority by ordering re-election in the constituency. The counsel said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had expressed reservations on 23 polling stations while there were no concerns about voting in the other 340 polling stations.
In the wake of alleged rigging in the Daska by-election, the PML-N had approached the ECP. Subsequently, the results were withheld. The presiding officer submitted its report to the ECP committee hearing the case that alluded to massive irregularities during the by-polls, asking the commission for re-voting in over a dozen polling stations.
The ECP, however, decided to hold re-election in the entire constituency and directed the Punjab government to take action against its officers, including the commissioner and the chief secretary.
It may be noted here that the federal government has demanded the resignation of the ECP members.
