Punitive action: Election Commission repeats warning to political entities

Only two parties have submitted details of their accounts.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday warned political groupings for the second time in a fortnight that they would be barred from parliamentary elections in the future if they failed to submit their asset records by the end of August.

“If a political party fails to submit the details by August 29, it will not be eligible for election symbols and will not be able to participate in the parliamentary elections,” a senior ECP official told The Express Tribune.



Citing Article 14 of the Political Parties Order 2002 states, it said a party that fails to submit its statement of accounts will not be eligible for an election symbol and so cannot contest elections for majils-e-shoora (parliament) and provincial assemblies. Political parties were also reminded that they needed to submit along with the asset details a certificate signed by their respective party heads.

“The ECP has once again drawn attention of the political parties to the provisions of the Political Parties Order 2002, which provides that every political party shall submit to the commission, within 60 days from the close of each financial year, a consolidated statement of accounts of the party, duly audited by a chartered accountant,” stated an official statement issued by ECP on Tuesday.



Only two political parties- Pakistan Muhammadi Party and Pakistan Brohi Party have submitted details of the accounts, an ECP official told The Express Tribune; both parties have no representation in any parliament. The official pointed out not a single major political party has shared these details.

Currently, there are around 230 political parties registered with the ECP, but out of those only 20 managed to secure a seat in the legislature.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2013.