ISLAMABAD - In what seems to further delay local government polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has refused to purchase biometric machines, a voter identification system, PTI wants to introduce in KP.
A meeting between officials of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and representatives of Nadra here on Wednesday ended without any conclusion. The meeting was convened to discuss LG polls in KP using biometric machines.
Sources privy to the meeting said Nadra had been asked by ECP to float international tenders and subsequently procure biometric machines, but the Database Registration Authority flatly refused, saying it would not engage itself in the purchase of the machinery.
The meeting between ECP and Nadra took place following the KP government’s letter to the commission, requesting it to hold LG polls in the province by November 15 through biometric machines for voters’ registration and identification.
The refusal by Nadra to purchase the machinery, according to election experts, can further delay local government polls in PTI-led KP that asked ECP on Friday to conduct these elections in the province by November 15.
Nadra Director General Muzaffar Malik, according to the sources, refused to purchase biometric machines, arguing that it was not the job of the authority to involve itself in procurement activities.
The meeting that ended without conclusion would be held on Thursday (today) also to develop consensus on the purchase of the machinery. “In case Nadra refuses to acquire the machinery, the ECP itself will float tenders and procure it,” an ECP official said. But another official of ECP said Nadra had demanded huge money from the commission for feeding voters’ data in the biometric machines. He added, presently, the ECP had still to return to Nadra Rs 80 million for preparation of electoral rolls.
ECP said it would require at least six months for completing the exercise, arguing the provincial government had not yet shared rules of procedures.