FAISALABAD: An officer of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Faisalabad has challenged key appointments in his own institution and sought details of assets owned by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.
Irfan Kausar, who previously made headlines for rejecting PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s nomination papers during NA-108 by-polls in August 2022, has written to the ECP Secretary and expressed his intention to follow another ECP officer, Regional Election Commissioner Adnan Bashir, who had filed a reference with the SJC a few months ago targeting the Chief Election Commissioner.
In a letter to the ECP through the provincial commissioner, Irfan Kausar alleged that these appointments had been made “unlawfully”. A copy of the letter to the ECP Secretary is available with MM News, in which Irfan has sought various documents, including a statement of assets and liabilities furnished by Sikandar Sultan Raja.
In addition to this, Irfan has written a letter to President Arif Alvi, inviting his attention towards these appointments made in the absence of service rules. In this letter, Irfan contended that with regard to parliamentary oversight relating to employment in the Election Commission of Pakistan, Article 221 merits consideration. He insists the Constitution requires the parliament to frame a law, yet no such legislation has been enacted so far. He cited that the Worker’s Party case Judgment and General Elections 2013 Inquiry Commission Report rightly pointed out grey areas to be addressed by the ECP.
Irfan highlighted that previously only serving PAS Officers used to be appointed in ECP and that too remained restricted to the post of Secretary, whereas the secretaries, in the past, relied upon the strength of ECP and endeavored to further enhance its capacity.
Referring to the appointments of appointing outsiders for administrative posts, Irfan said, “even if a contentious framework of 1989 rules is considered to be in vogue that too leaves its validity after the 22nd Amendment,” adding the commissioner has been running administrative affairs of ECP using outdated rules of 1989 and making amendments without even getting approval from the President which is a mandatory requirement of those rules while notified service rules do not exist now.
Irfan said the Commissioner was the sole administrative authority without the oversight of the Commission in the absence of the service rules. He alleged that the mid-career ECP cadre officers are being promoted arbitrarily and said that either the President should direct the authorities concerned to submit a draft of ECP service rules or the Chairman Senate and the Speaker, National Assembly direct the relevant committees to take up the matter for legislation.
