Candidates, LG reps fined for violating code of conduct

PESHAWAR: A total of 97 female teachers have been suspended for failing to attend training sessions for polling staff, while a few candidates and elected representatives have been fined for violating the code of conduct for the upcoming general elections.

An official of the Election Commission of Pakistan stated that action was initiated after the ECP took notice of the absence of approximately 6.6 percent of the polling staff during the training sessions being conducted at 125 different centres. “The Education Department in Kurram district issued notifications to 97 female teachers for failing to attend the training sessions,” said the ECP official. An additional 26 teachers are required to submit their replies within three days.

The ECP the other day took notice of the absence of 6.6 per cent of the polling staff from training and asked the chief secretary to take action against the absent staff.

The official added that chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has directed the commissioners and deputy commissioners to ensure that all the polling staff is available for training. An official said that training of 27,600 presiding officers and senior assistant presiding officers was completed. The training of the staff will continue till February 1.

Meanwhile, the ECP has taken notice of the involvement of local government representatives in the electioneering and termed it a violation of the Code of Conduct for the polls. The provincial election commissioners were directed to take notice of any campaign by the LG representatives. According to an official, tehsil chairman in Kohat Sajid Iqbal was fined Rs50,000 for violation of the code of conduct. A candidate for Lower Chitral, Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir, was also fined Rs50000 by the district monitoring officer. A fine was also imposed on two independent candidates, Ali Asghar and Ifrikhar Khan, in Abbottabad for violating code of conduct.