raises concerns over ‘unlawful’ appointments in ECP

ISLAMABAD monitoRinG RepoRt

Faisalabad District Election Commissioner (DEC), Irfan Kausar, has brought to light suspected irregularities in the appointment of key officials within the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Kausar has taken the issue up with the provincial commissioner and has also penned a letter to President Arif Alvi, drawing attention to these appointments which he claims were made in violation of service rules. Kausar, who made headlines last year for rejecting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s nomination papers for NA-108 (Faisalabad) by-polls, has communicated his intentions to the commission’s secretary to follow in the footsteps of regional election commissioner of Kohat, Adnan Bashir.

Bashir had filed a reference with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) a few months ago, targeting the chief election commissioner. In the letters he has penned, Kausar has requested access to several documents, including a statement of assets and liabilities submitted by the Chief Election

Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. Kausar has also argued that Article 221 of the Constitution is relevant to the matter of parliamentary oversight regarding employment in the ECP, given that the original article states, “until Parliament by law otherwise provides, the commissioner may, with the approval of the president, make rules providing for the appointment by the commissioner of officers and servants to be employed in connection with the functions of the commissioner or an Election Commission and for their terms and conditions of employment.” He contends that the Constitution requires the parliament to frame a law, as no such legislation is currently in place. Kausar has cited the fact that service rules were established by the then chief election commissioner in 1989 with presidential approval, which remained in force until the promulgation of the 18th Amendment. The official highlighted that in the past, only serving Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers were appointed to the ECP, and that too only for the position of secretary. However, in the present day, the secretaries rely on the strength of the ECP to further enhance its capacity. The above-referred judgment and report mainly focused on policy areas within the commission. As a result, new wings were created, and the organisational hierarchy was weakened. Kausar, referring to appointments made for administrative posts, stated that even if a contentious framework of 1989 rules is still being followed, its validity has expired after the 22nd Amendment.

The official alleged that the commissioner is running the administrative affairs of the ECP using outdated rules from 1989 and amending them without obtaining mandatory approval from the president. Kausar claimed the commissioner is the sole administrative authority without any oversight from the commission due to the absence of service rules. The official also alleged that mid-career ECP cadre officers are being promoted arbitrarily. Therefore, Kausar has urged the president to direct the relevant authorities to draft ECP service rules or for the chairman of the Senate and the National Assembly speaker to instruct the relevant committees to consider the matter for legislation.

9 Afghans held during combing operation

KARACHI Staff RepoRt

Police, with the assistance of Rangers, arrested nine Afghans during a combing operation in the SITE Super Highway area during the early hours of Sunday.

Officials said the operation was supervised by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sohail Faiz of the Sohrab Goth Division, while the action lasted around six hours. Officials of intelligence agencies and female searchers also participated in the operation. The officials searched the houses that were under suspicion, and they also checked the documents of the people residing there, especially their national identity cards.

During the operation, the officials detained some people, including Afghans who could not immediately show any documents regarding their residency in Pakistan. Police suspect they are living illegally without travel documents. If they provide proof of their stay in Pakistan, they will be released, otherwise they will face legal action.

Officials said that during interrogation, the arrested Afghans admitted illegally crossing the border into Pakistan and settling here. Police have arrested nine Afghans and registered case No. 496/23 against them under sections 3(2) and 14C of the Foreigners Act. The detainees include Allah Dad, Azizullah, Gul Mir Khan, Syed Mir, Khuda Noor and Allah Noor.

Around 90 percent work of the Sukki Kinari hydropower project has been completed while the installation of the heavy transmission line is in progress at a rapid pace. According to a report published by Gwadar Pro, the total gross installed capacity of Sukki Kinari Project is 873.508-MW with the supply of 4 sets of impulse turbines. SK project is a foreign direct investment project by Suki Kinari Hydro (Private) Limited. It is a joint venture by White Crystal Limited, Saudi Arabia (58%), Eden Inc. Behad, Malaysia (20%) and China Gezhouba Group Company Limited (CGGC) (20%). Meanwhile, Chinese engineers have successfully installed a Shaft pan in Sukki Kinari 884 megawatts hydropower project which would provide a base for water preservation and power generation. The run-of-river facility is one of the early-harvest clean energy projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Gezhouba Group, China is implementing the project at around USD 2 billion. The pan shaft has an important role in generating electricity by converting energy from an outflow between the upstream water and downstream water. The system comprises a vertical shaft, the shaft crown of which forms an inlet level that is essentially parallel to the bottom and which below the water level of the upper water runs, said a statement released here. Under Construction Suki Kinari Hydropower Project-884MW Shaft 234m deep double chamber surge shaft is being constructed to neutralize the hammering effect of water due to the sudden shutdown of generating units last year.

Sugar price hike has nothing to do with exports, says PSMA

CONTINUED FROM BACK PAGE

All these elements are factors in the increase of cost of production of sugar up to Rs 130 per kilogram. “Despite all the challenges faced by the sugar industry the price of sugar has increased much less in comparison to food inflation in the country which has gone up by 47 percent in the last one year. It might also be reiterated that the sugar industry of Pakistan set up several discounted sugar stalls much below its cost of production in different cities of the country during the holy month of Ramadan. This step of the sugar industry was also acknowledged by government circles. If the government would have timely allowed export of one million tons of sugar it would have ultimately given a positive message to the farmer who would have timely increased plantation and invested more in their fields to increase yield,” PSMA stated. According to the association, this would allow the country to sow more sugarcane, which could have taken the country to a position of exporting surplus sugar of two billion dollars’ worth. “The sugar industry is responsible and one of the oldest entities of Pakistan and pays more than Rs.100 billion to the government in the form of different taxes. We condemn such allegations on a responsible industry which is highly deplorable and against facts. Clubbing the hike in sugar prices with the export of sugar is totally unjustifiable and an attempt to tarnish the image of a responsible industry of Pakistan, which is totally against the factual position,” PSMA concluded.