ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday rejected the allegations levelled against it by government ministers, while announcing to issue notices to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Railways Minister Azam Swati.
According to a press release issued after a meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja and attended by senior ECP officials, the electoral body demanded the ministers to produce evidence to back their claims.
The election commission said it “objected to and rejected” the accusations against itself and the CEC. The press release said evidence would be demanded from Azam Swati for the comments he made about the ECP in the standing committee meeting.
“The election commission has decided to issue notices to both ministers so further proceedings can be brought into effect regarding this matter,” the statement added.
It added that the ECP has also sought the record from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as well as all material regarding the standing committee incident and the press conference to be presented before it.
On Friday, the ECP officials had walked out of a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs after Azam Swati accused the commission of taking money from companies that make electronic voting machines.
Later on the day, Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said during a press conference that it seems the ECP has “become the headquarters for Opposition parties” and the chief election commissioner is “acting as their mouthpiece”.
