Daily Times

Sir: If only the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had the will and the spine to exercise its powers, nobody could accuse them of going beyond their scope of powers in order to give the people of this country the fair elections they deserve. Recently people from the paid bureaucracy, as well as certain member s of the caretaker government raised their doubts about this body and whether it was biased in the way it dealt with the different political factions in the country.

Unfortunately the recent case of Zulfi Bokhari, the close friend of Imran Khan, has raised some doubts over the ECP’s role. Bokhari was put on the Exit Control List (ECL) and had been barred from leaving Pakistan under any circumstances. However he was caught trying to leave the country with Mr. Khan himself, who was allegedly travelling to perform Umrah on his private aircraft. Even though immigration officers did stop him initially, he was later allowed to board the flight and leave for Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the selection of conspicuously biased people to the Caretaker governments, especially on the provincial level has also led to criticisms from many quarters.

It would serve democracy if some of these individuals are removed, as they might be able to skew the election to their own advantage. The ECP must screen all candidates thoroughly to look for any issue that might crop up in their history, in order to ensure that the coming elections don’t fall prey to the scourge of rigging once again.

GULL ZAMAN

Peshawar

Published in Daily Times, June 16^th 2018.