ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has prohibited political parties and their candidates from launching personal attacks against their opponents, Express News reported Friday.
With election campaign in full swing and parties holding rallies, candidates were seen criticising each other and often resorting to name-calling and rhetoric that could be construed as slander.
Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari’s spokesperson Farhat Ullah Babar had written a letter to ECP stating that parties, specifically Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had been making personal attacks on the president and requested the commission to take action against them.
Although the letter was not mentioned, in this context, the ECP issued a directive forbidding parties and candidates from personal attacks and warned that action will be taken against anyone who violates this rule.
“Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of any aspect of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism based on unverified allegations and distortion of facts shall be avoided” ECP spokesman quoted from a paragraph from code of conduct for political parties.
Under the code of conduct issued by the ECP the candidates might criticize other political parties and opponent candidates on the basis of their policies and programmes, past record and work.
“The political parties, contesting candidates and their supporters shall refrain from deliberate dissemination of false and malicious information and shall not indulge in forgeries and disinformation to defame other political parties/leaders. The use of abusive language against the leaders and candidates shall be avoided at all costs” the media office said.
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Personal-attacking is a part of democracy! ECP wants to turn the campaign dry and boring. Even in the US, it's a part and parcel of every campaign - ever since the first elections took place more than 2 hundred years ago. Freedom of Speech covers EVERYTHING.....whether it's your opponent, the judiciary, the executive, the armed forces, or even your founding fathers.
"This will be bad for Imran". Oh please, like PLMn aren't just as filthy with their own vilification campaigns. Which part of Imran's life have they not raised objection to? His marriage, his children living abroad, his past and even his charitable organization which is probably the most transparent and efficient medical institute in Pakistan...all this just to gain political ground lost through their incompetent governance and corruption. What has Imran even said? That the 1200+ security personal appointed for the Sharif family's protection is the HEIGHT of monarchy? That the whole raiwand palace runs on stolen tax money? That Sharifs are bank defaulters? These are not personal attacks. Challenging Nawaz Sharif to a live debate is NOT a personal attack. Calling him a coward certainly is but come on, sometimes a man just can't help himself. Vote for PTI, vote for CHANGE.
ALLAH save Sharif Brothers from abusive language of Imran Khan.
How Imran will run his compaign now? I hate him only because of his arrogant behaviour. Allah bless Nawaz Sharif. Youth is with Nawaz Sharif.
There should be ethical standards of politics. Good move by ECP but very late. Now Imran will have to remain careful.
It will affect basic human right of Imran.
Then what will Imran do?
Outspoken Khan will have to be careful in future. This prohibition should have come quite earlier. It is too late.
Set back for IK who has no other agenda except to criticize the Sharifs
Good move by ECP. Bad for PTI.
@Fed up Freedom of speech doesn't mean you can hurl personal attacks on other people.
Ha ha ha. Imran Khan is gone.
PML(N) is popular because they perform. PTI is popular because they talk. I think this prohibition will badly affect PTI as they only talk.
What if personal attacks are the truth. Is ECP going to tell candidates not speak the truth. If anyone makes false accusations take them to court.
Ever heard of freedom of speech? Important part of democracy...
@Noman Ansari ECP forbid the candidates from personal attacks not criticizing the policies of government.
You people have a lot of nerve criticizing Imran and Nawaz and acting like PPP is blameless when its them behind those smear campaign ads against shahbaz sharif.
Spice has been taken out of otherwise mundane Khan and Sharif speeches
Perhaps but in Imran's case, there will be still be substance left, whereas in Sharif's case, nada, zippo, zilch!
I feel sad for showbaz shareef as he won't have anything else to say now. Poor guy can't even blame this action on IK or Mr. 100% anymore.
Spice has been taken out of otherwise mundane Khan and Sharif speeches.
The ECP have lost their mind... Theyve failed in properly vetting candidates (possibly deliberately) by setting up the whole 62 63 fiasco so that eventually nobody could be stopped from contesting.
Now they're coming up with these ridiculous rules on the fly that nobody is going to follow and nobody is going to implement.
Btw....What is the definition of a personal attack? Are they not supposed to name their opponents? Or not critcise them or their policies or their ineptness? Or not talk about their family lives? What exactly...?
IK 90% speech content gone :P
ECP has no control on the candidates.
They can talk whatever they can on electronic and print media.
ECP should go and watch the footage as what political leaders were doing in the assemblies during the five year term, what to talk about the political meetings and jalsay that are the part of election campaign.
Instead of prohibiting personal attacks on each other, ECP should ask the TTP not to attack the election offices of various political parties in the country.
Can ECP do that? Does ECP have any control on TTP?
And there goes the entire election strategy of PML N down the drain. Mr Shobaz will now fail to draw even a crowd of one thousand in his rallies.
That's a joke. Anything said during campaigning can be interpreted as a personal attack.
Now people won't be able to criticize the government for doing a terrible job.
if they stop trolling, how will imran khan gather crowd for his jalsas. He has been trolling everyone like a joker in his jalsas.