No level playing field in LG polls

ISLAMABAD: The assertiveness of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in implementing the polls law in letter and spirit has driven the government to amend the law to allow federal and provincial ministers, other cabinet members and elected representatives to campaign in the forthcoming local elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab.

The new presidential ordinance, amending the Elections Act to the effect, has an initial 120-day life during which the first phase of local government polls in 17 districts of Punjab and the second phase of the similar exercise in the remaining 18 districts of KP on May 29 and March 31 respectively will be covered.

The apparent short-lived purpose of the amendment is to give legal backing to the comprehensive involvement of government figures in the election campaigns of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates.

The amendment allows the members of parliament, provincial assemblies and local governments and all those holding any other office under the Constitution or any other law to visit or address public meetings in any area or constituency. Before the ordinance, the Elections Act prohibited all these functionaries, including those belonging to the opposition, to canvass in the local polls or by-elections.

During his opposition days, Prime Minister Imran Khan used to forcefully demand that those not in government should not be barred from campaigning.

He had visited certain constituencies where by-elections had been held in his capacity as the PTI chairman. He used to say that opposition leaders or MPs are not in a position to offer any development funds to such constituencies, therefore they should not be banned from such activity.

The proactive approach of the ECP during a number of federal and provincial by-polls over the past three years and the recent local government polls in KP prevailed upon the government to delete the section of the Elections Act that forbids government leaders from campaigning. The government took the restriction as a handicap. Not only during the several by-polls but also during the local elections, the ECP took serious notice of the participation of federal and provincial ministers in the canvassing and proceeded against them decisively. In one case, it ordered the expulsion of a federal minister from Dera Ismail Khan.

To avoid this penalty by the ECP, some cabinet members have resigned from their offices to run the election campaign of PTI candidates during the present government. After a serious setback in the first phase of the local government elections in KP, the government doesn’t want to take any chances and is determined to contest the elections with its complete and direct involvement. This became possible only after the government got rid of the relevant section of the Elections Act.

The law also says that no government functionary or elected representative, including a local government functionary or elected representative, will announce any development scheme for a constituency after the announcement of the election programme there.

Experts say that the primary objective of barring government leaders from campaigning is to put a halt to the use of official clout and state resources in favour of the ruling candidates and against their rivals. They say that it is the primary constitutional and legal responsibility of the ECP to ensure a level playing field to everyone taking part in the electoral exercise.