PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry slams Pakistan's election body, calls them "unelected"
Sep 11, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], September 11 : Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for their "incompetence" and called them an "unelected" body.
Chaudhry while speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, said that ECP facing an "administrative crisis due to incompetence of CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja and his team", adding, "says if justice is being done in this country, then it should be visible to everyone", reported Geo News.
He further mocked ECP for making the decisions in closed rooms and said that States "decisions related to the country's fate should not be made in closed rooms".
He said political parties are supposed to represent the people as opposed to "unelected" institutions, reported Geo News.
"The body utilises taxpayers' money but then suddenly cancels the elections," the former information and broadcasting minister said, he said.
He said that the ECP was facing an "administrative crisis due to the incompetence of the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and his team".
Chaudhry said that his party had filed a reference against ECP members in the Supreme Judicial Council but it has not been heard yet, reported Geo News.
Berating Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chaudhry said that the premier took his oath the same day he was supposed to be indicted.
The PTI leader then criticised the judiciary and said, "If justice is being done in this country, then it should be visible to everyone."
Chaudhry further added that state institutions should be on the same page and acknowledge that political parties represent the will of the people, while "unelected institutions do not represent the people".
"Decisions related to the country's fate should not be made in closed rooms," he said. "The public has a right to know."
Notably, PTI and leaders have been targeting the ECP after the electoral watchdog's verdict in a prohibited funding case.
PTI chief Imran Khan had earlier accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and said that the body was a "pet of the coalition government."
ECP had revealed that the money received from the foreign countries was used by Khan to fund PTI and he made false declarations in 2018 before the elections.
The ECP in its decision issued a show-cause notice to the PTI, as to why the prohibited funds may not be confiscated as confiscation of the prohibited funds is the domain of the ECP.
The foreign funding case has been pending since November 14, 2014, and it was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar, who alleged some financial irregularities in the PTI's funding from Pakistan and abroad.
