The Minister says the ministers had a casual discussion [over the issue] while Prime Minister Imran Khan was offering Zuhr prayers.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Dec 2nd, 2021) Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz has contradicted the statement of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary about holding funds for Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Fawad Chaudhary had said that the government will not be able to release funds under the new electoral laws for the Election Commission of Pakistan if it fails to hold next general elections through Electronic Voting Machines.
Shibli Faraz, however, has denied that the federal cabinet had made any decision to obstruct the ECP's funds.
Talking to a local private tv, Shibli Faraz said, "The ministers had a casual discussion [over the issue] while Prime Minister Imran Khan was offering Zuhr prayers,".
Faraz said that he believed that Fawad 's remarks had gained some "unnecessary media attention". Faraz said that the important news is that the PM formed a cabinet-ratified committee to sort out all electoral bottlenecks in the implementation of electoral laws.
He said that a ministerial committee comprising Babar Awan, Azam Swati, Aminul Haq and the attorney-general of Pakistan, with me as its convener, to facilitate the election commission in holding free and fair elections through EVMs.
The minister said that following the legislation regarding usage of EVMs, the PM wanted the government to work in concert with the ECP to iron out their difficulties to hold elections through EVMs. He also said the commission has requested the Centre to build testing laboratories and storage warehouses as well as they wanted the government's support for training. Faraz said that the ECP was a constitutional institution and its basic responsibility was to hold free, fair and transparent elections, adding that it was the responsibility of the incumbent government to fulfill the requirements and provide all legal assistance to it.
He said that the government wanted to make the electoral process more transparent through EVMs as it would help hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country. He stated that the Opposition was not ready to support the government on the use of modern technology in the elections because it knew that it would close all doors to rigging.
He said the PML-N and PPP had always won the elections by using unfair means as both parties were habitual of being involved in irregularities in the elections.
