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Today's Paper | November 25, 2024

Published 22 Oct, 2013 07:22am

‘ECP has no mandate to hold elections’

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that it is not possible for it to issue a notification in haste particularly without discussing certain key issues with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

An ECP official on condition of anonymity said that the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will be placed before the commission on Tuesday (today) for appropriate orders.

He further said that the elections have been proposed to take place at only one polling station in the Gaddafi Stadium, but it was not clear who will bear the cost of boarding and lodging of 111 voters.

The ECP official said training of polling staff and other technical issues would also require some time.

It is instructive to note that the counsel for the ECP sought 30 days time from the IHC to hold PCB elections but the court said that these must be done by Nov 2.

The court further said that if the ECP doesn’t agree to hold elections, it would order IHC registrar to hold PCB polls.

Answering a question, the official said the ECP under the constitution had no mandate to hold such elections, but it will have to do it under pressure.

He further made it clear that the commission had not conducted elections of the Pakistan Engineering Council and had just unofficially supported them.—Our Reporter

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