Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Naib Amir, Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed, has termed the decision to delay the holding of by-elections in the country by two months as yet another move of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to further lessen its credibility in the eyes of the masses.

In a statement issued on late Monday evening, the JI senior leader said the earlier decision to delay the holding of general elections by 40 days and conduct them on February 18, 2008 had already earned the ECP much unpopularity and criticism from the concerned political and public quarters.

He said that now the decision to reschedule the by-elections for August 18 from the earlier date of June 18 was so much dubious and lacking popularity that for it even the leading component of the present coalition government - the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - had not been consulted in advance.

He said that earlier the components of the All Parties’ Democratic Movement (APDM) had decided to stay away from the general polls due to their lack of confidence in the functioning of the election commission. He said the subsequent moves of the ECP had proved that the decision of the APDM regarding polls was wise.