ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in this regard.
The letter stated that taking the matter of fund release amounting to Rs21 billion for the elections in Punjab and KP provinces to Parliament, is tantamount to reducing the independence of the Election Commission.
The federal government is bound to give as much funds as the institutions with charged budgets, including the ECP; the letter mentioned.
It added that the budget of the institutions including the Election Commission is charged, and can only be discussed in the Parliament.
ECP wrote that the Parliament cannot cut charged budgets of institutions and cannot even refuse to issue budgets for institutions with smear-charged budgets.
Non-disbursement of funds by the Federal Government and Parliament is tantamount to reducing the independence of the ECP, the letter said.
The federal government should issue an immediate budget for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, CEC wrote.
