No flouting of poll commission’s code

The federal and provincial governments have assured the EC they would fully adhere to its code of conduct.

ISLAMABAD: The federal and provincial governments on Thursday assured the Election Commission (EC) that they would fully adhere to its code of conduct and would refrain from taking any step impinging on the transparency of polls, as the commission warned the authorities of strict action if the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers visited the constituencies to influence poll results.

“The chief election commissioner (CEC) has powers of a high court judge and can take action under contempt of court. Such practices should stop now,” CEC Hamid Ali Mirza was quoted as telling the participants of a high-level meeting called after complaints of visits of high-profile government functionaries to constituencies where polls were held in the recent past.

The CEC warned the authorities that the commission would not tolerate such practice in future as it impinges on the neutrality of the elections. The EC had summoned the provincial CECs and secretary and joint secretaries of the commission, minister of interior, secretary interior, home ministers of four provinces, their chief and home secretaries to come up with a strategy to deal with violations of election rules. The violation of election laws at the highest level is a common practice whereby state resources are openly used to affirm desired election results. Despite repeated directions by the CEC a large number of complaints were received from contesting candidates as well as highlighted by media that state resources were being used by the federal and provincial governments for a particular candidate in sheer violation of these directives. Sources privy to the meeting told The Express Tribune that Rehman Malik proposed in the meeting that additional separate units in Pakistan rangers could be established whose officials should have special training on maintaining law and order during polls.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2010.