Sunday, 16 December 2012
ISLAMABAD: CEC Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim on Monday intervened to check alleged irregularities in intra-party elections being held in the Pakistan Tehrik Insaf.
The CEC ordered its top leadership to redress the grievances regarding electoral malpractices within the shortest possible time.The CEC, on a petition moved by a leading founding member, also observed in categorical terms that transparency in intra-party elections is as important as free and fair national elections.
In a healthy and far-reaching development in domestic political culture, the CEC asked the PTI command to ensure that transparency, fairness and sanctity of the ballot are upheld in its party elections organized last month.
Ebrahim took a prompt action on the petition filed by the PTI’s well-known figure, its founding member and former Vice President Akbar S. Babar in a meeting. When approached Babar confirmed that CEC had taken notice and said that he had presented before the CEC documents about massive rigging in the PTI’s elections.
Babar also discussed with CEC important aspects of coming general election and forwarded proposals to make these free, fair and transparent.In his direction to the PTI leadership, the CEC also stressed that “holding of transparent intra-party elections is as important as holding of free and fair elections.”
The CEC also agreed in principle with Akbar S. Babar that new laws for election commission should also be framed for monitoring intra-party elections more effectively rather than relying on the existing ones.The CEC agreed with the petitioner that without internal democracy in political parties there can be no real democracy in the country.
