PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan has declared the Election Act Amendment Ordinance “illegal”, saying that section 181-A of the Ordinance is in direct conflict with Section-233 of the Election Act.
Section 181-A of Election Act states, “Government officials or elected representatives, including local government officials shall not campaign and announce development schemes for a constituency after the announcement of election schedule.” However, through a presidential ordinance, the government amended Section 181-A to enable public office holders to campaign after the announcement of election schedule.
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The ECP stated in its order that the ordinance violates the Election Commission of Pakistan mandate to formulate the election code of conduct. The Election Commission has issued a code of conduct according to which Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, Governors are banned from campaigning during the elections. Speakers, Federal Ministers and Advisers to the Prime Minister will also not be able to campaign however; members of the assembly are allowed to participate in the election campaign.
The code of conduct states that MPAs, MNA and local government elected representatives would be able to participate in the election campaign but also be bound by the rules and regulation.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has also put the Attorney General of Pakistan on notice in petition challenging the ordinance amending the Elections Act 2017 which has made public office holders eligible to participate in the election campaign. The petitioner has said that the government has issued the ordinance ignoring parliament.
The government has issued the election act amendment ordinance after the election body took strict action against federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur and KP Minister for transport Shad Mohammad Khan over the election code of conduct violation. The ECP said that after the ordinance, the government will be able to use state resources and machinery for the election campaign and thus the election candidate would not get level playing field.
