Code of conduct ‘takes fun out’ of campaigns
Gymkhana candidates can host just one gathering to woo voters.
The candidates have been instructed to “desist from malicious propaganda” against each other.
LAHORE:
The election commissioner of the Lahore Gymkhana has issued a code of conduct greatly restricting candidates’ campaign spending.
Under the new code, candidates will not be allowed to host parties or lavish meals for potential voters, within or outside the club, except on polling day (December 29). The panels in the election are allowed to hold only one “simple gathering” within the club to introduce the candidates.
According to a notice circulated by the club secretary on December 21, the new code of conduct is aimed at ending the “deplorable fragmentation and formation of groups and malicious propaganda”, which had “undermined our essential values and norms”.
The candidates have been instructed to “desist from malicious propaganda” against each other. They have been allowed to canvass for votes by phone, SMS and letters. Candidates were warned that “any violation of this code will mean disqualification from the race”.
Ziaur Rehman, the outgoing chairman of the club’s Committee of Management and a contender for the same slot in the upcoming elections, has already been warned for violating the code. Rehman announced his panel of candidates at a private wedding hall and served tea and snacks to guests on the day after the code of conduct was issued. The election commissioner issued a notice of explanation to him. Rehman apologised and pledged not to make the mistake again.
A member said that he had received a text message from Salman Siddique, the head of the other panel contesting the elections, stating: “To eliminate acrimony and bring back harmony to our club, kindly consider voting for my panel on December 29.” He said that this could be considered propaganda, since it suggested that the outgoing administration had fostered acrimony and disharmony.
A couple of members said that the election commissioner should have banned or at least limited canvassing by text message in the elections. One said that she received dozens of text messages a day, sometimes as late as midnight.
Some members complained that the code of conduct had taken the fun out of the elections, as they would no longer be wooed with lavish dinners, parties and concerts. One member said that in previous years, rival candidates had been known to organise a total of up to 50 parties before the elections.
But the new rules will be a relief to the candidates. In previous years, candidates have spent an average of a million rupees each on their campaigns, estimated one candidate.
Six independent candidates and two 12-member panels are contesting the elections. Both panels are headed by retired bureaucrats (Rehman and Siddique).
There is also controversy surrounding the participation of Mian Misbahur Rehman and Imran Zubair Khawaja in the elections. The election commission had barred them from participating, on the grounds that no one could contest elections more than three times, but they later won a stay order from a civil court allowing them to run. On December 24, the Lahore High Court, hearing Ziaur Rehman’s appeal against the civil court order, declined a request for a stay order on the elections. However, it made the election results subject to the court’s final decision on the appeal.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2012.
The election commissioner of the Lahore Gymkhana has issued a code of conduct greatly restricting candidates’ campaign spending.
Under the new code, candidates will not be allowed to host parties or lavish meals for potential voters, within or outside the club, except on polling day (December 29). The panels in the election are allowed to hold only one “simple gathering” within the club to introduce the candidates.
According to a notice circulated by the club secretary on December 21, the new code of conduct is aimed at ending the “deplorable fragmentation and formation of groups and malicious propaganda”, which had “undermined our essential values and norms”.
The candidates have been instructed to “desist from malicious propaganda” against each other. They have been allowed to canvass for votes by phone, SMS and letters. Candidates were warned that “any violation of this code will mean disqualification from the race”.
Ziaur Rehman, the outgoing chairman of the club’s Committee of Management and a contender for the same slot in the upcoming elections, has already been warned for violating the code. Rehman announced his panel of candidates at a private wedding hall and served tea and snacks to guests on the day after the code of conduct was issued. The election commissioner issued a notice of explanation to him. Rehman apologised and pledged not to make the mistake again.
A member said that he had received a text message from Salman Siddique, the head of the other panel contesting the elections, stating: “To eliminate acrimony and bring back harmony to our club, kindly consider voting for my panel on December 29.” He said that this could be considered propaganda, since it suggested that the outgoing administration had fostered acrimony and disharmony.
A couple of members said that the election commissioner should have banned or at least limited canvassing by text message in the elections. One said that she received dozens of text messages a day, sometimes as late as midnight.
Some members complained that the code of conduct had taken the fun out of the elections, as they would no longer be wooed with lavish dinners, parties and concerts. One member said that in previous years, rival candidates had been known to organise a total of up to 50 parties before the elections.
But the new rules will be a relief to the candidates. In previous years, candidates have spent an average of a million rupees each on their campaigns, estimated one candidate.
Six independent candidates and two 12-member panels are contesting the elections. Both panels are headed by retired bureaucrats (Rehman and Siddique).
There is also controversy surrounding the participation of Mian Misbahur Rehman and Imran Zubair Khawaja in the elections. The election commission had barred them from participating, on the grounds that no one could contest elections more than three times, but they later won a stay order from a civil court allowing them to run. On December 24, the Lahore High Court, hearing Ziaur Rehman’s appeal against the civil court order, declined a request for a stay order on the elections. However, it made the election results subject to the court’s final decision on the appeal.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2012.