Parties lethargic to comply with new election laws

ECP seeks membership list, payment of fees by Saturday

ISLAMABAD: Political parties appear to be lethargic towards the very first requirement of the new election laws, as none of them have so far submitted the requisite fee and the list of at least 2,000 members with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The ECP on October 20 sent notices to all the 352 political parties registered with it, to comply with sections 201, 202, 209 and 210 of the Elections Act, 2017 and provide a list of at least 2,000 members with their signatures or thumb impressions and copies of their national identity cards along with Rs200,000 fee submitted in the National Bank of Pakistan by December 2.

Under the Elections Act, 2017, which was enacted on October 2, political parties are required to fulfil these two requirements within 60 days of its enactment. The deadline expires on December 2.



The ECP on Wednesday issued a warning to the parties, saying it would delist them on December 4 if this condition was not fulfilled. Interestingly, the ECP statement says, not a single party has bothered to comply with these two requirements so far.

After issuing the first notice on October 20, the ECP sent a reminder on November 14 and the final notice on November 25. Besides it spent millions of rupees on adverts in newspapers on November 9 across the country. Yet, it failed to draw attention of any of the 352 registered political parties.

The Section 202 of the Elections Act, empowers the ECP to de-list a party which did not fulfil the required conditions. To facilitate political parties, the ECP is going extra mile – it is keeping its office open on a gazetted holiday on December 1 and the weekly off on Saturday.