Parties flay ECP’s code of conduct

Say there are no clauses to identify candidates not adhering to the rules.

PESHAWAR:

Participants of a consultative dialogue held at the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday termed the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ineffective.

The dialogue organised by Civic Awareness Promotion Society (CAPS) included representatives of different political parties who said there were lacunas in the draft of the code of conduct.

Referring to the first paragraph of the text, CAPS Chairman Shakeel Waheedullah said it does not mention who will decide if a clause of the code was being breached by a certain party.

“There is no way to register a complaint or impose penalty on a candidate if he disobeys the code of conduct. And the district returning officer responsible for ensuring compliance of rules has only been appointed for the day of the elections,” he said.

He maintained that the entire district administration should be responsible for ensuring the code of code is being adhered to. He also suggested giving the authority to register complaints against violators of ECP’s laws to the station house officer of every district.

Khwaja Yawar Naseem of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) pointed out the absence of a clause regarding the disqualification of a candidate in case of complaints against the concerned person.

Allah Dad Khan from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) appreciated the limit set on the cost of campaigns of candidates competing for provincial and national assemblies at Rs1 million and Rs1.5 million, respectively. He, however, said no consideration was being given by political parties to candidates who do not have a lot of money to spend.



Human rights activist Ijaz Durrani called for the draft to be reviewed by the ECP, saying ground realities need to be taken into account. He said the caretaker government should provide transport to voters since parties are not allowed to do so anymore.

Meanwhile, a jirga of three Mehsud tribes was held in the Political Compound of Tank during which tribesmen appealed to the Election Commission of Pakistan to make alternative arrangements for the NA-42 constituency of South Waziristan.

Participants said it was their right to vote and choose a candidate who would raise a voice for their problems.

They demanded setting up polling stations in Mir Ali, Miranshah and Razmak, the three sub-divisions of North Waziristan, and in Tank district and Dera Ismail khan, where Mehsud IDPs were currently residing.

A participant, Mulana Abdullah said a letter has been written to the provincial government and ECP, but they have not received any response as yet. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT by ZULFIQAR ALI from DI Khan)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2013.