Staff Reporter Islamabad
The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday served notices to Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati and Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry over their scathing remarks on the election body for its objection on the use of EVMs in the next general elections.
The ECP has also sought evidence from Azam Swati and Fawad Chaudhry after they levelled allegations against the election commission in a press conference.
The notices were issued after a session of the election commission chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in Islamabad on Tuesday.
On Friday, Federal Minister Azam Swati had accused the election commission of taking bribes from the companies to manufacture electronic voting machines.
“ECP has taken a bribe,” Azam Swati had alleged. “You will go to hell,” he said, pointing to ECP officials who were in attendance in the meeting called to deliberate and vote on two key bills on the use of electronic voting machines in elections and voting rights for overseas Pakistanis.
Meanwhile ECP on Thursday also said that it is the responsibility of the Commission to implement any new procedure for holding elections.
In a letter to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Tair Mali, the ECP said that it was disappointed with the tone adopted by NADRA, adding that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to implement any new procedure for holding elections.
The letter stated that the tone of NADRA’s letter gave an impression that the
Election Commission is a subsidiary of NADRA.
According to the ECP, NADRA wants to sign a new agreement of Rs 2.4 billion for e-voting with the Election Commission but Rs 66.5 million had already been spent.
