Staff Reporter – Islamabad:
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given three more weeks to Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Federal Railways Minister Azam Swati to submit their response to the notices served on them earlier seeking evidence of their allegations against the polls supervisory body expired.
In case of non-compliance, the commission has warned that it would take action against them under the Election Act.
It further warned that it might initiate contempt proceedings against the ministers.
Fawad had sought more time from the ECP to submit his reply while Swati opted to ignore the notice.
Swati, during a recent Senate committee meeting, had accused the ECP of taking bribes to rig elections and said such institutions should be “set on fire”.
Later in the day, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had accused the chief election commissioner (CEC) of acting as a “mouthpiece for the opposition parties”.
Their comments came in the wake of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs after one-sided voting by opposition members rejecting key amendments to the Elections Act.
They included allowing e-voting, holding open Senate elections, giving Pakistanis living abroad the right to vote via internet and parliamentarians vacating their seats if they did not take oath within 60 days.
This came as a major blow to the government’s plan to move ahead with holding the next elections using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and e-voting.
