LAHORE:
Lahore High Court on Monday allowed a petition seeking permission for canvassing in the upcoming by-polls by the president, prime minister, federal minister and political party heads.
However, the court maintained that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could take action over announcement of development projects and other attempts at pre-poll rigging in constituencies. Earlier, the court had observed that there was no harm in letting government and political party heads participate in by-election campaigns.
Petitioner Mansoor Sarwar, an Pakistan Tehrek-i-Insaf legislator in the Punjab, had submitted that the election code under which the ECP was preventing government and political party leadership from participating in by-poll campaigns was in violation of the constitution. In his response to the petition, a deputy attorney general had said that the ban was meant to ensure impartiality in by-polls.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2015.
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