Two major lawyer bodies released statements on Tuesday calling on Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja to leave his post so that elections may be conducted in a free and fair manner.

Pakistan Bar Council said in its statement that its office bearers had expressed serious concerns over the CEC’s conduct in delimitations, seat allocations and election procedures.

It added that the CEC’s conduct had led to the impression that he cannot preside over free and transparent elections.

The statement also claimed that Jheulm with 1.3 million people has been allotted two seats on the basis of being the hometown of the CEC. Meanwhile, Hafizabad, with a similar population, has been given only one seat.

The PBC also said that the CEC seemingly has different codes for each political party and transparent elections are not possible under him. It also called upon the SC to take notice of the matter.

The Supreme Court Bar Association also issued a statement on Monday stressing level playing field for all political parties in the upcoming general elections.

The SCBA statement also raised concerns over the ECP’s competence to deal with the discrepancies being reported in the electoral process.

The statement said that merely adhering to the timeline given by the SC without addressing grievances could harm the country’s stability instead of approving it.

It also called upon the the CEC to resign as free and fair elections would not be possible under him.