Wahab denies violating code of conduct as he responds to ECP’s notice

In response to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) show-cause notice, Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said he never violated the code of conduct issued by the commission.

The mayor said that he had refrained from participating in the election campaign of any candidate. He added that he was a law-abiding citizen who gave the greatest respect to the law and institutions.

In a press conference on January 26, over which the ECP issued the show cause notice, Wahab had said that the presser “was not aimed for any election purpose but only for the purpose of highlighting various issues faced by the people and what the local governments should do to serve the people.”

He assured the ECP that he had not participated in the election campaigns and he never intended to do so.

The ECP on Friday issued a notice to Wahab for allegedly violating its code of conduct. Taking notice of his January 26, press conference, Joint Election Commissioner Ali Asghar Sial stated that it was an attempt to influence the results of the February 8 elections.

In an indirect reference to the Pakistan Peoples Party, it said Wahab had clearly given the impression that he was supporting a specific political party even being the mayor of Karachi.

It said that the ECP had in December 2023 notified its code of conduct for political parties, contesting candidates, and election and polling agents.

The ECP’s show cause notice cited a point in the code of conduct that reads, “Political parties, candidates, their supporters, government and local government functionaries or elected representative, shall not announce or inaugurate, openly or in secret, their overall development schemes or development work or do anything which tends to influence the results of an election in favor of or against a particular candidate or political party after the announcement of the election programme till the day of polling and shall not give any subscription or donation., or make promise for giving such subscription or donation, to any institution of their respective constituency or to any other institution as well.”