Fawad again expresses concerns over the conduct of CEC Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja
ECP raised 37 objections against the EVM out of which 10 are regarding the Election Commission of Pakistan itself.
if ECP does not trust the machine prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology then it is free to procure such a machine from anywhere.
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain says the government is committed to go ahead with its electoral reforms agenda for free, fair, transparent, and credible elections through the use of modern technology. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said whatever he says during the press conferences at the Press Information Department (PID) is not his personal point of view but it is the point of view of government and cabinet.
Addressing a joint news conference, along with Minister for Science and Technology Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, at PID in Islamabad on Sunday, he urged the opposition to cooperate with the government to hold impartial elections in the country.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the government has presented 49 reforms, but unfortunately, the opposition is neither accepting them nor coming up with its own proposals. He said the government is serious about using Electronic Voting Machine as is being practiced in various countries of the world to ensure transparency in the voting process. He said that opposition is unable to see from above its feet. He said that government and opposition should jointly decide that in which way they want to hold next elections but if the opposition did not want to talk then government will have other no option. He said that there is no other option but to hold the 2023 elections after carrying out electoral reforms.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said whenever we ask opposition to bring reforms they say their cases should be ended, adding that if government asks opposition to bring amendment in NAB law they demand ending their cases. He said that the cases will be decided by the courts. He said that the serious people in opposition parties should move forward and try to convince their leadership that the reforms are necessary for holding the next elections.
The Information Minister said the Election Commission of Pakistan, in its report, omitted the data that supported the EVMs. He said that the government will carry out legislation regarding the use of EVMs from joint session of the parliament. He said that under the constitution the parliament will decide about the mode of holding elections.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain again expressed concerns over the conduct of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja. The minister said that it seems like CEC is supporting opposition’s narrative. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has raised baseless objections on electronic voting machine (EVM), he added. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the ECP included such objections in the repot against the use of EVM which shows that the ECP had already decided to give report against the EVM.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that ECP raised 37 objections against the EVM out of which 10 are regarding the Election Commission of Pakistan itself. He said that ECP raised baseless objections against the EVM. He said that it looks that Chief Election Commissioner is speaking the language of opposition, adding that opposition and CEC are speaking the same language this could not happen. He said that every institution has its own character and politicians could openly speak and they are also criticized. He said that it could not happen that judiciary or election commission should start portraying themselves as opposition leader. He said that a campaign is being run to discredit the EVM. He said that all the elections conducted by election commission remained disputed; wherever anyone has lost he says elections were not held in right manner. He said that election commissioner should bring material and present his stance that in which way the elections should be held.
He said that CEC is against the reforms suggested by the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He further urged other members to come forward and review the decisions taken by Sikandar Sultan Raja. He said that the election commission is not complete so it could not take basic decisions. He said that CEC should separate himself from the disputes and if he thinks he could not do this and could contribute in politics then he should resign and continue in politics. He said that CEC has to seriously review his behavior as so far we have expressed restraint.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Shibli Faraz said his ministry had prepared a prototype of the EVM and invited the political parties and the ECP to examine its functioning, but they did not take it seriously. He said if ECP does not trust the machine prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology then it is free to procure such a machine from anywhere.
He said we have no priorities regarding the use of a particular machine as we only want a technology driven election to give them credence.