Local govt representatives warned against ‘facilitating’ election candidates

ISLAMABAD: Following complaints about abuse of powers, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday warned local government representatives against ‘facilitating’ election candidates in political activities and electioneering, ARY News reported.

While taking notice of complaints about local government representatives, the electoral watchdog issued the directives in letters to all provincial chief secretaries, and election commissioners.

In the letter, the ECP refrained local body representatives from providing “manpower and government machinery” to election candidates in political activities and electioneering, noting that such facilitation was a violation of “code of conduct”.

“The representatives should refrain from facilitating candidates,” it said, adding that strict action will be taken against all violators of the ECP code.

The election commission also directed district monitoring teams to intensify monitoring of election campaign. “The teams should take action on code of conduct violations”, it added.

The general elections in Pakistan are scheduled to take place on February 8 for which arrangments are in the final stage.

A day earlier, the ECP seized the development funds of local and cantonment boards across the country, until announcement of the results of the general elections 2024.

Read more: Int’l observers, journalists to cover elections 2024 Pakistan: Solangi

According to the notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the development funds of the local and cantonment boards have been frozen to ensure free, fair, and transparent polls on February 8.

The notification stated that the local governments will only carry out the day-to-day affairs of sanitation and cleanliness, but no development scheme will be announced or worked on.

It has been further stated in the notification that local governments and cantonment boards will not award tenders till the results of the general elections 2024.