Pak politician praises India's election commission

In a rare compliment for an Indian institution from across the border, the chief of the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami party here today praised India's election commission for its conduct of the Lok Sabha polls saying Pakistan should emulate its standards.
Siraj ul Haq said that India's poll body is free from political or military influence and that the Pakistani election commission (EC) should be based on a similar set-up.
He was responding to questions in a TV talk show about cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's allegation that last year's general election in Pakistan was rigged.
The show will be telecast tonight on Geo News.

Khan had vowed on April 25 to launch protests against what he claimed was widespread rigging in the May, 2013 polls.
The watershed polls saw his party rise to power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and become the third largest party by seats in the national assembly.

Addressing a rally in Islamabad on April 29 to mark 18 years of the party, Khan had announced the party's decision to begin a fresh round of protests for a free and fair election commission.
Reiterating his claim that the general election was massively rigged, he had demanded a probe into the role of a former chief justice, returning officers and a media group.

Khan said that a massive protest movement would be launched from May 11.