ECP stops training of DROs, ROs after LHC verdict

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday stopped the training of the district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) on the orders of the Lahore High Court.

The LHC had suspended the ECP notification issued on December 11 regarding conduct of the general elections through the executive. Justice Ali Baqar Najfi announced the reserved verdict on the application of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He has also sent the file to the chief justice for the hearing of the case by a larger bench.

In the verdict, the court ruled that all candidates should be given equal opportunities for the conduct of free and fair elections. "In the present situation, the elections cannot yield the results desired by democracy. The ECP verdicts will have effects at the national level. All activity will go in vain if big parties do not accept the results," it observed.