ECP bars PM from opening water scheme in Thatta

ISLAMABAD  – The Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday has taken notice of Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif’s proposed visit to Thatta (Sindh), ahead of the second phase of Sindh local gov­ernment elections.

The prime minister, in his proposed visit of Thatta area, was to in­augurate Greater Kara­chi Bulk Water Supply Scheme K-IV.

The ECP has already announced that the lo­cal government election in 14 districts of Sindh to be held on 24th July. “The president, prime minister, chairman/ deputy chairman Sen­ate, speaker deputy speaker National As­sembly, federal and pro­vincial ministers and advisors shall not par­ticipate in election cam­paign in any manner whatsoever,” says the letter written by ECP.

The electoral watch­dog says,” All execu­tive authorities in the federation and in the provinces shall neither announce any develop­ment project nor use state resources in local government elections to influence the elec­tion in favour of partic­ular candidate.” the scanner of the Election Commission of Paki­stan (ECP) after he announced free electricity for households consuming up to 100 units from July.

As per details, the ECP had announced the elec­tion schedule in 20 constituencies of Punjab on May 25, 2022.While Punjab Chief Minister an­nounced free electricity under Roshan Gharana Scheme on July 4, 2022.

According to the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission, no government official, elected representative or government official can announce any development scheme in these con­stituencies after the announcement of the elec­tion schedule. Meanwhile, the district monitoring officers of the Election Commission on Tuesday served notices to various candidates over viola­tion of the code of conduct during the electioneer­ing ahead of by-polls in 20 Punjab constituencies.

According to provincial Election Commission sources, the district monitoring officer Lodhran served a notice to candidate, Zawar Hussain, in PP-224 over violation of code of conduct, besides summoning State Minister for Interior Abdul Reh­man Khan Kanju over participating in the election campaign. The distinct monitoring officer Lahore imposed a fine of Rs 45,000 on a candidate, Amin Zulqarnain, in PP-170 over several violations of the code of conduct. The candidate had been asked to deposit the fine within three days. The of­ficer also issued a notice to PML-N candidate Nazir Chohan on using oversized posters.

The district monitoring officer Jhang directed administrator Zila Council for stopping develop­ment works in PP-125 and PP-127, and sought a report, besides directing regional police officer for cancelling transfer and posting of senior Clerk Mu­hammad Iqbal. The district Monitoring officer Mu­zaffargarh directed Muhammad Ibrahim, a candi­date of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik

It says, “You are required to go through the content of relevant Para and act accord­ingly.”