A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) initiative to appoint government officers as District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) for the upcoming general elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Wednesday.
The petition was filed by Advocate Umair Khan Niazi, a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who named the ECP, the federal government, the Punjab government and others as respondents.
The petitioner stated that the ECP had informed the Supreme Court that the national elections would be held on February 8, 2024.
He argued that conducting transparent and impartial elections was the constitutional responsibility of the ECP and that it had the power to appoint DROs and ROs from government officers under the Election Act.
However, he claimed that the ECP had been conducting elections through DROs and ROs from the judiciary in the past and that there were reports that it had a plan to appoint government officers as DROs and ROs for the next polls.
He contended that under the current caretaker government, government officers as DROs and ROs could not ensure transparent elections.
He requested the court to annul the ECP's possible initiative to appoint government officers as DROs and ROs and direct it to appoint DROs and ROs from the judiciary as before.