Caretaker govt refutes political leaders' allegations

PPP and MQM-P leaders on social media have been accusing govt of being partial

KARACHI: Taking cognisance of allegations on social media by leaders of some political parties regarding alleged restrictions on their election campaigns, the Sindh government spokesperson clarified on Friday that the caretaker government's mandate was to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding free and fair elections on July 25.

Leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan have been complaining that the government is hindering them from carrying out their campaigns.

The government spokesperson claimed that equal opportunity was being provided to every candidate contesting the elections to campaign, irrespective of the candidate's political affiliation, in accordance with the law and code of conduct issued by the ECP.



The spokesperson rejected the allegations, according to which directives had been issued to restrict election campaigns of particular candidates or political parties. He added that all contesting candidates and parties as well as their supporters were free to carry out their election activities as the per the ECP's code of conduct that was formulated with the consensus of all the political parties.

A proper complaint management system is in place and has been empowered to deal with complaints regarding hurdles or restrictions in campaigns or violations of the code of conduct, the spokesperson said, adding that such complaints can be lodged with the district monitoring officers.

The spokesperson advised all the candidates to formally approach monitoring officers or returning officers in case they had a complaint. The officer warned that propagating unfounded allegations against the caretaker administration and misguiding public at large through Twitter and other social media applications by candidates and political parties was inappropriate and itself a violation of the election laws. He said that such allegations encouraged anti-state elements and undemocratic forces to take mileage and create more uncertainty to sabotage and frustrate efforts of the ECP and caretaker government.