 PESHAWAR: The Nowshera district returning officer (DRO) served notice on NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq on Saturday, summoning him for August 15 to explain alleged interference in the local government elections. The summons was issued after Chief Election Commissioner Abdul Hameed Dogar directed the Nowshera DRO to investigate complaints by Taraqi Pasand Group candidate Niaz Muhammad in Union Council Dheri Katthikhel that the senior minister was "interfering" to help Jamaat-e-Islami-backed candidates win.
| Comes as a surprise, huh? I know. It floored me, too... |
Haq, however, said he had not received the summons.
| "Nope. Nope. Never happened." |
"I am not interfering in the elections. The charge is baseless," he told Daily Times.
He said federal ministers such as Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Minister of State for Water and Power Amir Muqqam had been "openly interfering" but had not been censured. "Why hasn't President Pervez Musharraf been summoned for his interference when he is asking people not to vote for extremists?"
| "Why's ever'body alway pickin' on me?" |
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