ECP asked to stop violations of rules in CBC pre-poll campaign

KARACHI: Despite the complaints and issuance of show-cause notices to the violators of the code of conducts of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP), the campaigners for the local government polls in cantonment areas of the city, continued with their course.

Jahanzeb Aslam, a candidate contesting elections in Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC)’s Ward-2, asked the ECP to take action against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s parliamentarians for violating the code of conducts, claiming that the members of the assembly have been carrying out the election campaigns of their party’s candidate and he termed it as pre-poll rigging. Aslam has written several letters to the Returning Officer (RO), the PTI’s parliamentarians, including MNA Aftab Siddiqui, MPA Shehzad Qureshi, and MPA Seema Zia have been running election campaigns of their party’s candidate Imran Shiekh and it is a sheer violation of the code of conducts of the ECP.

According to the ECP rules, the sitting parliamentarian could neither participate directly or indirectly in the election campaigns of any of the candidates, nor visit any union council, and being refrained to announce any development scheme to influence the voters’ minds.

“What boggles my mind is that the attitude even after receiving show-cause notices and warnings from the ECP, the PTI parliamentarians do not seem hold themselves back to supporting their party’s nominated candidate,” Aslam annoyed.

He accused, “Either the ECP or its officials are on their (PTI) payroll, just buying them time till election’s day by issuing notices or the PTI parliamentarians and candidate believe that the ECP is incompetent to take any serious action against the violators of the elections’ decorum.” The complainant has also drawn the attention of the national elections’ body towards violation of the ECP’s code of conducts by displaying oversized banners and spending funds more than the allowed limits. He alleged, “This negligence or incompetence by the ECP has not only boosted PTI’s candidate Sheikh’s courage to violate the elections’ rules but also effectively encouraged him to rig the elections.” Meanwhile, an ECP official said the Commission has sent show-cause notices to several parliamentarians on the violation of the code of conducts and directed them to submit their replies within days. However, PTI Karachi spokesperson Uzair Siddiqui said he is not aware of the notices sent by the ECP to the party’s lawmakers.