By 
ISLAMABAD: An Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officer serving as Faisalabad district election commissioner has decided to petition the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for the dismissal of ECP chief Sikandar Sultan Raja for “abuse of administrative authority.”
Infuriated by the Election Commission’s ‘outsiders’ rule and dubious promotions, DEC Irfan Kausar sought to contest the selections of senior ECP officers, including its secretary, Omar Hamid Khan. The official said in many letters to the ECP secretary his intention to follow in the footsteps of another ECP officer, Adnan Bashir, and file a reference against the ECP chief at the SJC. Mr Bashir had petitioned the legal counsel against his supervisor a few months back.
Reasons for CEC’s withdrawal
According to the letter sent to the secretary by the provincial election commissioner, the reference against the CEC will include the alleged use of undue influence in real estate and private businesses, as well as obtaining lucrative postings for the CEC’s extended family of bureaucrats. Other allegations include misusing public funds during a financial crisis, failing to comply with constitutional commands, abusing administrative authority, and tarnishing the ECP’s administrative fabric in order to influence general elections.
The official also requested a declaration of CEC Raja’s assets and dependents, minutes of Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) meetings, and allocations granted to the Public Works Department in fiscal year 2022-23 The official also requested a declaration of CEC Raja’s assets and dependents, minutes of Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) meetings, and allocations granted to the Public Works Department in fiscal year 2022-23. A copy of the service rules, including changes, as well as the seniority list of the ECP officers, were also requested.
In the absence of service norms, the ‘organizational structure’ is said to be at the mercy of Sikandar Sultan Raja.
In separate letters to the ECP secretary, he stated his intention to challenge the appointments of Secretary Omar Hamid Khan (retired federal secretary), Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain (retired ECP officer), and Additional Secretary (HR) Khalid Siddique (retired civil servant), alleging that they were made illegally.
The ECP official also wrote a letter to President Arif Alvi, the speaker of the National Assembly, the chairman of the Senate, and members of parliament to draw their attention to alleged illegal appointments in the ECP made in the absence of service norms.
The letter also said that the ECP chief has “sole administrative authority without commission oversight in the absence of service rules.”
“The commissioner has appointed his retired colleagues and class fellows to senior administrative positions, putting the ECP’s organizational structure at the mercy of the commissioner.” “Mid-career ECP cadre officers are being promoted arbitrarily,” the letter claimed, pleading with parliament and the president to intervene.
