ISLAMABAD: The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) should be appointed after consultations with the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Opposition Leader and the President, said the former CEC T. N. Seshan .

Addressing a seminar organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) here on Friday , Mr. Seshan, through a video link from Chennai, said that the CEC should always be appointed after holding consultations with the Chief Justice, Leader of Opposition and finally the President.

Independent

He affirmed that the Indian Election Commission is independent and strong and always took its own decisions and had never been influenced by the executive arm, a report in the Dawn said on Saturday .

The rules of games were set by legislatures and the Constitution and not by the executive in India, he said.

Mr. Seshan, who served as the 10th Chief Election Commissioner from 1990 to 1996, said there were many flaws in the election laws and the electioneering and polling processes when he headed the poll panel.

Observing that no self-respecting country needs foreign observers to monitor election and decide about their fairness, he said India would never allow any one to guide its people about democracy and election processes.

The Indian Election Commission only asked foreign observers to come and see the polls but did not ask them how to hold the elections, Mr. Seshan said.

He added that it would be a matter of pleasure for him if he was invited to Pakistan to see the polls as a foreign observer in 2007. — PTI

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