ECP warns govt employees against participating in political activities

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued a pre-general election advisory, instructing government officers and employees to refrain from participating in political activities, ARY News reported.

According to the issued circular, government officials and employees are restricted from engaging in election activities.

The advisory specifies that government officials and employees were prohibited from taking part in election activities.

Government officials seeking leave must obtain approval from Returning Officers (ROs), while district officers must seek permission from the District Returning Officers (DRO) for their leaves.

The ECP advisory stated that the federal government employees up to grade 19 can have their leave sanctioned by DROs. The advisory specifies that officers in Grade-20 and above are required to obtain leave approval directly from the Commission.

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Meanwhile, the election watchdog also denied claims that decisions on accepting or rejecting nomination papers are influenced by reports from Federal Board of Revenue, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and others.

The Commission’s spokesperson strongly refuted a news item attributed to the spokesperson of the Punjab Election Commission (PEC), that the Election Commission had purportedly made decisions on accepting or rejecting candidate nomination papers upon receiving reports from institutions like NAB, FBR and others.

He stated that the Commission had not taken any such decision, emphasizing that the news was entirely false and fabricated, lacking any basis.

The Punjab Election Commission has informed the media that the scrutiny of nomination papers would persist until December 30. Subsequently, the list of candidates with approved nominations would be unveiled.