ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz has opened a new Pandora’s box in a reaction to the statement of Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry about the funds of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Briefing the media after a federal cabinet meeting, the information minister had said that after the passage of the new electoral law, it is vital for the ECP to hold all upcoming by-elections using EVMs. In case the ECP fails to do so, the government will not be able to release funds under the law, he had said.
Faraz denied that the federal cabinet had made any decision to obstruct the ECP’s funds. “The ministers had a casual discussion [over the issue] while Prime Minister Imran Khan was offering Zuhr prayers,” he said while talking to a private television network.
Faraz said he believed that Fawad’s remarks had got some “unnecessary media attention”.
Reacting to Faraz’s statement, Zubair termed it “a very serious issue” and criticized the government over its decision-making process. “We all know, as Fawad Chaudhry briefed the media, that the cabinet has made this decision,” said the PML-N leader. “But, he [Shibli] is now saying that the cabinet decided it when the premier was not around. This is a very serious issue.”
It is a serious issue that the cabinet made such a crucial decision in the PM’s absence, which the PM himself does not own, Zubair added.
Faraz said a more important news story is that the PM instituted a cabinet-ratified committee to sort out all electoral bottlenecks in the implementation of electoral laws.
“The Prime Minister had formed a ministerial committee comprising Babar Awan, Azam Swati, Aminul Haq and the attorney-general of Pakistan, with me as its convener, to facilitate the election commission in holding free and fair elections through EVMs.”
After the legislation regarding usage of EVMs, the PM wants the government to work in concert with the ECP to iron out their difficulties to hold elections through EVMs, the federal minister said. He also said the commission has requested the Centre to build testing laboratories and storage warehouses as well as they wanted the government’s support for training.
Faraz said the ECP was a constitutional institution and its basic responsibility was to hold free, fair and transparent elections, adding that it was the responsibility of the incumbent government to fulfill the requirements and provide all legal assistance to it.
The government wanted to make the electoral process more transparent through EVMs as it would help hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country, he said.
The minister said the Opposition was not ready to support the government on the use of modern technology in the elections because it knew that it would close all doors to rigging.
Read more: Former Secretary ECP defies Fawad Chaudhry over ECP funds’ remarks
