Election Commission of Pakistan says it is developing a mechanism to ensure free and fair elections but not using technology as suggested by the Supreme Court due to shortage of time.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-March 2nd, 2021) Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to hold Senate Elections according to Senate Elections, the latest reports said on Tuesday.
The ECP said that they were developing a mechanism to ensure free and fair elections.
“ECP has also decided not to use technology as suggested by the Supreme Court due to shortage of time,” said the sources.
The Senate elections would be held by March 3 (Wednesday).
The sources said that ECP also vowed to follow the Supreme Court’s opinion regarding holding of Senate Elections in letter and spirit.
ECP held its meeting on Monday but put it to Tuesday as the Commission could not decide mechanism for using technology in the Senate elections in line with the instructions of the Supreme Court.
They said that ECP also constituted a three-member committee under the head of ECP Special Secretary which would prepare a report in four weeks about the use of technology in the Senate elections. The committee was empowered to seek assistances from various Nadra, FIA, IT ministry. It can also acquire help from professions and technical institutions.
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced its verdict on presidential reference, holding that the elections would be held under the Constitution.
The top court held that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was empowered to take all measures to hold free and fair elections and curb corrupt practices under Article 218 of the Constitution, observing that the secrecy was not “absolute”. The SC had also directed the ECP to use technology to stop the corrupt practices in the elections and directed all the institutions to help the ECP in this cause of holding a transparent election.
The top court held that printing of ballot papers would begin once the ECP finalises the designs of the ballot paper. The Election Commission of Pakistan would print 2,600 ballot papers for the Senate election, which was just hours away and every party was trying to win the support of the maximum number of voters.
