THIS isapropos A. Habib`sletter`Imran and ECP` (May 6). The writer`s criticism of Mr Khan about the local bodies` elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not justified.
Mr Khan and the KP government need to be thanked for holding the LB elections in their province. The PML-N and PPP are in power in Punjab and Sindh, respectively, for over seven years, but there is no sign as yet of local bodies elections in these provinces.
Conducting elections in a fair, free and transparent manner is the sole responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan. The KP government suggested several measures for local bodies elections in the province, but those were turned down by the ECP. The KP government advised the ECP to conduct polls using the biometric system in the province, but the proposal was not accepted for one reason or another.
The KP government had also suggested to the ECP that as the police force in the province was not adequate enough to maintain law and order, the paramilitary force must be called during the election.
Once again the request was turned down.
Imran Khan is right in putting the blame on the ECP for irregularities and mismanagement observed at some polling stations during the election process and has graciously of fered re-election at any constituency under army supervision if agreed upon by opposition parties.
