ECP reminds caretaker Punjab govt of its limits

The poll supervisory authority has imposed a ban on issuance of no-objection certificates (NOCs) to new housing societies.

In a letter sent to Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said it has come to its knowledge that deputy commissioners in Punjab are issuing NOCs for new housing societies in various areas of the country’s most populous province.

The ECP reminded the interim CM that promulgation of NOCs or policies is not the mandate of the caretaker government. Policy-making is the prerogative of an elected government, not a caretaker setup, it said.

The ECP expressed hope that the caretaker government will work within its constitutional and legal mandate and will not make policy decisions. It said in cases of emergency, the caretaker government should prepare a case and get it approved by the commission.

It urged the caretaker government to follow the ECP guidelines and carry out only day-to-day business.

Caretaker governments were installed in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provinces in mid-January after the PTI led provincial governments in the two provinces decided to dissolve the provincial legislatures in order to force the outgoing federal government to announce snap polls.

The constitutional terms of the caretaker government was set to end in mid-April but the PML-N federal government did not issue funds needed by the ECP to hold elections in the two provinces despite a Supreme Court order.  Some legal experts and the PTI raise questions about the legitimacy of the two caretaker governments and describe them as illegal.