Daily Times

LAHORE: A petition was filed on Saturday in the Lahore High Court (LHC) requesting the court to order the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure free and fair Senate elections and act as a guard against corrupt practices.

The petition, filed by Advocate Munir Ahmad, requested LHC to direct the election commission to ensure fair elections since “the election process in general of Pakistan is deeply tainted, incapable of being transparent and biased towards
the corrupt elite of this nation”.

The application added that a number of political parties have raised questions regarding Senate elections since the votes are allegedly being sold at high prices, but the ECP has not taken necessary measures to probe into the allegations.

Moreover, the petition claimed that the Election Act, 2017 omitted the clauses relating to the declaration of nomination papers for electoral candidates, non payment of utility charges, land revenue record during the last three financial years and status of any criminal litigation against the candidates, which is in violation of the Articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution.

Referring to LHC’s decision to allow former finance minister Ishaq Dar to contest Senate elections, Munir Ahmad said that an “absconder of courts who is charged with tax default, holding of a foreign akama, money laundering has been allowed to be eligible for being elected as the member of the Senate”.

The petitioner added that Dar’s nomination papers are in need of revision to ensure impartial elections and that not doing so will be a violation and negation of the constitutional provisions.