The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday strongly rejected “irresponsible and baseless allegations” leveled by a “political figure”, saying the ECP will keep taking decisions under the law and the Constitution in fulfilment of its lawful obligations.
The statement from the ECP comes a day after former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan targeted Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, demanding his resignation following the surfacing of audio leaks allegedly featuring conversations between key figures in the coalition government. Imran had said the audio leaks had made it apparent that CEC Raja was a “servant of the Sharif household”. In the audio leaks, “Nawaz is telling him [CEC] who should be disqualified and when to hold elections,” the former premier said.
After the audio leaks, the CEC should resign if he has even an ounce of shame, he said. “But he doesn’t [have any shame], so we will have to make him resign.”
However, in a statement on Tuesday, the ECP responded to the criticism without naming Imran, saying it had no control over holding elections.