Following the refusal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja from stepping down from his post, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday announced staging protests outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) offices across the country from tomorrow (Tuesday). The decision was made during a meeting of the party’s political committee, presided over by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
Talking to the media after the meeting, former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the CEC had crossed all limits of prejudice and dishonesty. Fawad announced that his party would hold protests outside the offices of ECP across the country from April 26 “due to the behaviour of the CEC”. He further said that instructions had been issued to all district organisations of the party in this regard. Earlier, Raja said he had no plans to step down and would continue working as head of the election watchdog.
Imran had earlier announced filing a reference against Raja for the ECP’s failure to conduct early elections. This is not the first time the PTI has railed against the incumbent CEC. Fawad had also urged the ECP members to defy the commissioner in a press conference in November last year. He had accused Raja of acting as a mouthpiece of his rival parties. He had later apologised for his remarks.
