The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday disqualified Federal Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s brother, Umar Amin Gandapur, from running for mayor in Dera Ismail Khan for flouting the code of conduct of the local government polls.
The ECP also barred Ali Amin Gandapur from addressing any gathering or taking part in any political activity in the district.
A three-member bench headed by the chief election commissioner (CEC) announced the reserved verdict in a case against the federal minister for violating the election code of conduct for the upcoming second phase of the local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
The CEC a few days ago had ordered that Ali should be expelled from DI Khan after he was repeatedly found involved in violating the code of conduct and his videos of campaigning for the party candidates made rounds on social media. However, the minister had filed a petition against the expulsion order.
During the hearing of the case on Monday, the ECP allowed Ali to enter DI Khan but has barred him from holding any political event or addressing public gatherings and has disqualified Umar from taking part in the upcoming LG polls.
Read: CEC orders expulsion of PTI minister Gandapur from DI Khan for violating election rules
Last year in December, the ECP had also slapped a fine of Rs50,000 on the minister for violating the code of conduct for the local body elections. He was addressing a rally during the election campaign of his brother.
Separately, the electoral watchdog also ordered the K-P government to take action against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s brother, Zia-ur-Rehman, for violating the election code of conduct for the upcoming second phase of the LG polls in K-P.
Zia ur Rehman, who is also a government official, was served a notice for his participation in the election campaign and was summoned by the district returning officer (DRO) for running the campaign of the JUI-F candidate, Kafil Nizami.
The ECP on Monday sent a letter to the K-P chief secretary seeking departmental action against the government official.
“Zia-ur-Rehman participated in the election campaign of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) on February 3 and also spoke in favour of Kafil Nizami, who is the mayoral candidate of DI Khan. By law, no government employee can participate in elections or the electoral process,” the letter stated.
Meanwhile, the ECP also issued notices to JUI's MNA Jamaluddin for holding a press conference in favour of the mayoral candidate.
Read More: ECP fines JUI-F’s DI Khan candidate
The commission has also sought clarification from Nizami regarding the February 5 rally and inquired why the party had held the rally despite being barred from holding such activities.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that ECP's decision to disqualify Umar Amin Gandapur, brother Ali Amin Gandapur, from contesting local body elections would be challenged in the Supreme Court.
"It was evident that Maulana Fazlur Rehman faced defeat in DI Khan. In such a scenario, the PTI candidate was disqualified on the grounds that his brother was participating in the election campaign," Fawad said, adding that such decisions were making the election commission "controversial".
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