ECP serves notices on Chaudhry, Swati

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued yet another show-cause notice to Minister for Information and Broadcast Fawad Chaudhry and Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati directing them to explain their caustic remarks against the agency. The commission first served notice on the duo on September 16, asking them to provide within week evidence of the charges of “bribes and always rigging” the elections they had levelled against it and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. Last month, during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs to discuss proposed amendments to the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2021, Swati came down hard on the agency and said it should be “set on fire” for making fun of the government and “ruining” the democracy in Pakistan. Responding to Swati, the ECP rejected his allegations and decided to demand evidence from Chaudhry and him in this regard. The ECP members also expressed anger over ministers for accusing them of taking bribes. The allegations are baseless and unacceptable as the ECP is a constitutional department, they said. A twomember bench comprising commission’s members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi chaired the proceedings on Wednesday. Swati’s counsel, Muhammad Zubair, said the minister had appeared before the bench Tuesday, but couldn’t make it today (Wednesday) due to a road closure. “We [the counsels] too faced great difficulty in reaching the commission [premises],” he said. At this, the bench recalled this was a second notice served on Swati. The first, they said, was heard Tuesday. The first notice also directed Chaudhry to appear in person before the agency, while the second tagged Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan. The agency had also summoned Chaudhry but neither he nor his counsel appeared before the agency. Subsequently, while issuing the notices, it adjourned the hearing until November 16.