ECP seeks Rs10b 'urgently' for K-P, Punjab polls
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday demanded that the federal government should "urgently" release Rs10 billion for the elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, as the electoral watchdog had already been provided with Rs5 billion of the estimated Rs15 billion for this purpose.
During a meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh was briefed on the expenses which would be required to hold the polls in the two provinces.
Interior Special Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, who also attended the huddle, was asked to ensure the presence of Rangers and Frontier Corps personnel at polling stations to ensure the security of the elections.
The commission also directed him to contact the defence secretary and General Headquarters (GHQ) in connection with the security-related affairs.
The ECP decided that it would contact the defence secretary itself as well and direct him to ensure the deployment of army troops during the elections.
Sources said the postponement of the by-elections for National Assembly seats had reduced the ECP's financial burden, otherwise the commission would have needed Rs25 billion for conducting the polls.
They further said the ECP had sought funds as per the revised budget for the elections.
The finance secretary was quoted by the sources as telling the ECP that the federal government did not even have funds to meet its daily expenses.
They added that the finance secretary told the ECP that he would convey its demands to the federal government and inform the commission about its decision soon.
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The commission told the finance secretary that the provision of funds for the elections was the government’s constitutional responsibility.
Later in an informal talk with the media, the finance secretary said the federal government had not refused to provide funds for the polls and the commission’s request would be reviewed.
He added that elections in the two provinces would be held in line with the Supreme Court’s order and it was the government’s constitutional duty to conduct the polls.
The secretary further said the commission should keep sending its revised demands and they would be presented to the government.
Last month, the finance ministry had refused to provide funds for the elections in the two provinces, citing the country’s fiscal challenges, especially in the wake of last year’s devastating floods and the ongoing census.
“[The] government of Pakistan is going through unprecedented economic crisis and facing fiscal deficit. Under these challenging circumstances, [it] has to ensure funds for flood affected areas and the census, besides meeting expenses on running of the government and provision of sectoral subsidies. In such a scenario, arrangement of funds for unplanned/un-budgeted expenditure would put additional financial burden on the economy,” the finance ministry told the ECP in a letter.
The finance ministry informed the commission that the country was under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and had strict targets for maintaining fiscal discipline and deficits. It asked the ECP to consider deferring its demand for funds until the economic conditions improved.
In another letter, the interior ministry informed the ECP that civil and armed forces personnel could not be spared for election duties because of the difficult security situation arising in the wake of a recent spike in terrorism.
It also added that military troops were required to undertake widespread deployment for conducting the census from February 27 to April 3.
In a related development, the ECP has invited K-P Governor Ghulam Ali at its secretariat in Islamabad for final consultations on March 14 at 2pm.