Daily Times

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday took notice of reported roughing up of a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate in Multan and directed the Punjab government to provide security to election candidates in Multan, Narowal and elsewhere.

In a letter to interim Chief Minister Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob said that free and fair polls can be achieved only in a conducive law and order environment. The letter states that the relevant officials were made aware earlier of threats to the political leaders and contesting candidates. “It appears, unfortunately, that authorities concerned have yet to take the bull by the horns,” the letter reads.

“There have been media reports that candidates have been harassed and physically threatened at various places. Incidents like the ones at Narowal and Multan require immediate corrective measures,” the ECP secretary said. He cautioned that under the ECP’s constitutional mandate of organising and conducting elections honestly, justly and fairly under Article 218(3) of the constitution, it can only be achieved in a ‘conducive law and order environment’. “I have been therefore directed in the spirit of Article 220 to enjoin, through you, the police and the administration not to rest on their oars till the task of a free and fair election is achieved,” he added. A copy of the letter was forwarded to the other three chief ministers and the caretaker prime minister also.

The ECP’s missive follows a PML-N candidate from PP-219 Multan Rana Iqbal Siraj alleging that he was tortured by the personnel of a secret agency over his refusal to withdraw from the upcoming election. “I was asked not to contest the election on the PML-N ticket,” he claimed, adding that he was asked to come to the local office of the agency. He claimed that a raid was also conducted on his fertilizer godown. He alleged that he had been slapped several times during the raid on the godown.

This followed a media talk by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in London in which he accused a premier intelligence agency of repeatedly calling Siraj at his office in Multan and pressurising him to shift loyalties. He said other PML-N candidates were also under immense pressure to withdraw their PML-N candidatures for the general elections. But, in another twist to this episode, Siraj later issued a televised statement saying his warehouse was raided by the Agriculture Department and that his accusations about intelligence agencies were the result of a ‘misunderstanding’.

Meanwhile, printing of ballot papers has begun at the countrywide printing presses of three printing organizations as per the amended ECP schedule under the Pakistan Army’s supervision. The army had already been deployed to the printing facilities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on June 25. Each ballot paper will cost around Rs10 to print. There are over 210 million ballot papers being printed, making it the most expensive ballot paper printing process in the country’s history with a total estimated cost of over Rs 2.1 billion.

Published in Daily Times, July 2^nd 2018.