The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday sent a notice to Adviser to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Shafiullah Jan, seeking an explanation for his statement blaming the electoral body for irregularities during the Haripur by-elections last year.

During a press conference on December 19, Jan blamed the ECP for electoral irregularities, and claimed Form 47 was issued from Islamabad instead of the returning officer’s office.

“This was a singular yet bizarre event in the country’s history, when a Form-47 was issued from Islamabad,” adding that “ECP didn’t upload all Form-45s from 602 polling stations in the constituency, nor could the PMLN produce all Form-45s from 602 polling stations.”

In its notice, the ECP said that “baseless” allegations were made against the commission concerning the conduct of the Haripur by-elections, including the issuance of Form-47 from Islamabad, the non-uploading of Form-45 on its website, and other claims of irregularities.

“The Election Commission has reviewed that matter and is of the considered view that allegations made in the said statement are incorrect, misleading, and not supported by any evidence,” it said.

The ECP further stated that such statements, when made publicly without any verifiable evidence, create “unnecessary confusion and adversely affect public confidence” in the electoral process.

“It appears to be an attempt to malign the institution.”

In its notice, the ECP directed Jan to explain his position regarding the statements he made and provide “concrete and verifiable” evidence to support his claim within the next seven days.

“In case no such evidence is furnished in the stipulated period,” it said, “the Election Commission shall take appropriate action in accordance with the law”.

In November, by-elections were held for six national and seven provincial assembly seats, in which PML-N secured almost all the seats except one. However, the opposition party PTI alleged rigging and rejected the results.

For the NA-18 (Haripur) seat, PTI-backed independent candidate Shehrnaz Omar Ayub, wife of former opposition leader Omar Ayub, was defeated by PML-N’s Babar Nawaz.

The seat was vacated by Omar Ayub Khan upon his disqualification by the ECP over convictions in various cases.

The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), an electoral monitoring body, also reported that by-elections were marred by “recurring violations” of campaigning restrictions and “gaps” in results transparency.