A busy day: ECP lifts ban on govt appointments

Extends deadline for submission of nomination papers.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan had a busy day on Thursday, as it lifted the ban on appointments in government departments, ordered the replacement of Sindh and Punjab’s chief secretaries, and revised both the schedule and the code of conduct for the May 11 elections.

In an official statement on Thursday, ECP additional secretary Afzal Khan announced the restriction on recruitments and transfers in government departments across the country had been removed since the commission had ‘full faith’ in the new caretaker government.

“The ban on recruitments and transfers was imposed based on fears that the outgoing government would make appointments on political grounds… Now that an impartial caretaker government has been inducted, there is no need for the ban to continue,” said Afzal, adding that the ECP believed the caretaker government would make all appointments ‘purely on merit’.

When ECP imposed the ban on January 21, a number of appointments made during the previous government’s term were revoked, even though several government departments had already conducted tests and interviews for recruitments.

The ECP also announced a ban on diverting funds to development schemes, concurrently with the ban on recruitments. The commission had said that the announcement of new jobs and development schemes with the elections around the corner was tantamount to pre-poll rigging.

Posting of chief secretaries

The ECP has directed the establishment division to replace the chief secretaries (CS) of Punjab and Sindh with immediate effect, in a bid to ensure free and fair elections.

According to the notification issued in this regard, the commission directed the establishment division to transfer Punjab CS Nasir Mehmood Khosa to the post of the Sindh CS. Incumbent Sindh CS Raja Mohammad Abbas, meanwhile, has been asked to report to the establishment division. Federal education and training secretary Maj (retd) Qamar Zaman will be taking over from Khosa as the Punjab CS, the notification adds.

The ECP has directed the establishment division to ensure the notification is implemented within three-days and report back to the commission upon doing so.

Nomination papers deadline extended

Following demands by political parties, particularly from Balochistan, ECP revised the schedule for the upcoming general elections, extending the deadline for the submission of nomination papers from March 29 to March 31.

There will be no change in the date for the polls, however, which will be held on May 11, the notification issued in this regard revealed.

Meanwhile, the dates for scrutinising the nomination forms have also been changed accordingly – the process will now start on April 1 and continue till April 7, as opposed to starting on March 30 and ending on April 5 as per the previous schedule.

The last dates for tribunals to decide appeals and for reluctant candidates to withdraw their candidacy have also been pushed further to April 17 and April 18 respectively. According to the revised schedule, the final list of candidates will now be published on April 19.

Code of conduct

The ECP on Thursday also issued a revised code of conduct for the upcoming polls.

Under the new code, candidates contesting seats for the National Assembly shall not spend more than Rs1.5 million on election expenses, while those contesting for the provincial legislature shall not spend more than Rs1 million. Each contesting candidate shall also open an account with a scheduled bank by April 4 and deposit an amount therein within the prescribed limit. The candidates will only be allowed to use the same accounts for all election expenditure.

According to the code, each candidate will also need to submit a statement of election expenses to the respective district returning officer each Thursday.

The new code also bars candidates from taking out car rallies over long distances, unless they have pre-arranged corner meetings at specific designated places. The local administration will have to be notified of such meetings. It would also have to ensure that all candidates are accommodated without discrimination.

Meanwhile, two-member teams will be instituted to monitor the election process in order to ensure candidates are observing the code of conduct. The teams will report back to the respective provincial election commissioner on a daily basis. The local administration will also provide the teams with necessary security to monitor poll progress in the constituencies.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2013.