Senior journalists and political analysts Friday asked the government to avoid pressurizing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to impose Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) forcefully.
During 24NewsHD programme – DNA –noted figures, Salim Bokhari, PJ Mir, Iftikhar Ahmed and Javed Iqbal, expressed concern over the allegations levelled by federal ministers against a constitutional institute and insulting attitude towards the Chief Election Commission.
They were of the view that the government wanted to hold elections through the electronic voting machine, which has already been rejected the ECP and the opposition.
Saleem Bukhari said that the government worked on the idea of the electronic voting machine to ensure its success in the next elections despite growing unrest among the people due to its unpopularity and inflation.
He said the commission had raised 37 objections to the machine and a letter was written to the government after today's incident.
Saleem Bukhari said the government had also praised the BRT system in past but what happened to it, so the issue of EVMs should be decided in the parliament.
PJ Mir defended the government's approach and said after every election, the opposition blames the ECP for rigging so the government was on the right track.
He said that why the government cannot criticize the Election Commission. Babar Awan was talking in accordance with the constitution.
In response to it, Iftikhar Ahmed emotionally asked whether the Election Commission should be set on fire or whether the allegations of money against it should be admitted.
He said that it has been cleared from the letter of the Election Commission that the plan of EVM is not feasible and it required expenditure of Rs 50 billion. He further said that it would be impossible to hold elections on the same day.
Iftikhar Ahmed said that the reaction of the opposition should not be ignored. He said the government wanted to call a joint session and implement the machine by force. He said the suggestion should not be ignored.
Javed Iqbal said that the government should not put pressure on one of its constitutional institutions by targeting it.