ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan will hold consultations with political parties on October 4 to finalise the code of conduct for the upcoming general election, a draft of which has been shared with them for their feedback.
The exercise will take place here at the Election Commission Secretariat at 2:00 pm in accordance with Section 233 of the Elections Act, 2017, regarding the Code of Conduct. Its draft has been shared with leaders of political parties and also uploaded on the commission’s website. It covers general conduct, political parties, contesting candidates, campaigns, publicity, polling agents, polling day and miscellaneous aspects of the nationwide electoral exercise.
The draft code says political parties, contesting candidates and election agents shall not propagate any opinion, or act in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan, or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan, or morality or public order, or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan, or which defames or brings into ridicule any government institution, including the judiciary and the Armed Forces of Pakistan. The parties, contesting candidates, election agents and their supporters shall not offer gifts, gratifications or inducements to any person to contest or not to contest as a candidate from the election. Violation will be treated as a corrupt practice.
The political parties, the draft reads, shall provide equal opportunity to its qualified members to participate in electoral processes and ensure at least five percent representation of women candidates as required under Section 206 of the Act. The draft says that political parties, contesting candidates and election agents shall dissuade their workers and sympathizers from destroying any kind of election material. Violation will be treated as a corrupt practice. It cautions that incitement to violence or resort to violence during pre-poll campaigns or during polling hours shall be strictly avoided.
