Ayaz Sadiq rules out possibility of ‘banning’ political party

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms, Ayaz Sadiq, has ruled out notion of banning a political party, saying that no proposal in this regard was under consideration, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Talking to journalists, Ayaz Sadiq said that the parliamentary committee’s responsibility was to make electoral reforms, not to ban any political party.

The PML-N leader pointed out that the recommendations on electoral reforms tabled before the committee will be finalised next week. “Effective proposals for transparent elections were taken into consideration,” he noted.

“We are trying to amend the decisions related to election made during former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s tenure,” he added.

The government is likely to introduce a number of amendments to the Election Act, 2017 to ensure timely submission of election results.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms will also meet today on proposed amendments to the election law.

The committee, chaired by Ayaz Sadiq will submit its report on proposed electoral reforms to the Parliament within 10 days.

Sources said the body completed a preliminary review of 70 of the 73 amendment proposals in election law suggested by different political parties.

At the meeting, some political parties expressed serious reservations over the delay in announcement of election results. They suggested not to accept the results submitted after a delay.

The members of the committee also agreed over making it mandatory for the presiding officer to submit election results within a specific time period. They recommended that in case of a delay, the presiding officer should be bound to offer solid reasons for the delay.

A day earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should not be allowed to contest polls as they were responsible for the May 9 violence.

In a statement, Interior Minister said that the JIT is conducting an investigation into May 9 incidents and he is in contact with agencies regarding the investigation.