Stern action on violation of ECP code of conduct: CS

LAHORE : Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani on Saturday ordered the authorities concerned to take stern action on violation of the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He said that the government servants who had affiliations with political parties and those who remained absent from election duty would be punished.

He sadi this while chairing a meeting to review arrangements for general elections 2018 at Civil Secretariat. The chief secretary said that holding free, fair and transparent elections was a priority and all possible cooperation would be extended to the ECP for achieving the objective.

He directed that a report regarding implementation of the code of conduct and action on the violations be submitted on a regular basis. He ordered the inspector general of prisons to take steps to enable prisoners to cast their vote. He also issued instructions to the additional chief secretary home to make functional the central control room for monitoring elections.

The additional chief secretary home told the meeting that Section 144 had been imposed in the province from June 29 to July 28 to maintain law and order during the general elections. He said that under Section 144, there would be a ban on display of arms, graffiti, misuse of loudspeaker and hate speeches, etc. The provincial election commissioner briefed the meeting about the polling stations, polling scheme and printing of ballot papers.

He said the government servants could apply to the returning officers of their constituency for getting postal ballots. He said the ECP would consider only those cases of transfers and postings that would be sent through the chief secretary.

The schools education secretary told the meeting that show-cause notices had been served on 180 teachers in Lahore for being absent from election training. She said that the district education authority had been ordered to take action against the teachers under PEDA Act.

Road safety: CTO Lahore and national cricketer Azhar Ali launched a road safety campaign by distributing flowers and traffic awareness pamphlets among the citizens on The Mall on Saturday.