Elections: Govt imposes ban on employees leaves

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Sunday imposed a ban on leaves of all government employees ahead of general elections, ARY News reported.

In a circular issued by district returning officers, the government has also barred employees from leaving the country during the winter vacation.

The letter requires full compliance with the directive. Its copies have also been sent to education departments.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has banned registration and deletion of votes.

The electoral body has imposed ban on registration of new votes, deletion, change and correction of votes in electoral rolls.

According to sources, the ECP has also imposed ban on leaves of its officers, other employees and returning officers.

Sources said that the election commission’s regional offices will remain open today (Sunday) for provision of voter lists and other material.

The ECP has also imposed ban on transfers and postings of provincial and federal government employees.

It is to be mentioned here that the election commission had issued the election schedule for the February 8 general elections in compliance with the Supreme Court order on Friday.

The development came hours after the apex court ordered the ECP to announce the election schedule as it suspended a Lahore High Court (LHC) order on the appointment of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) from bureaucracy, which had cast a shadow over holding of general elections.

During a chat with newsmen, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja vowed to provide level-playing field to all political parties.

“I had never said the elections would be delayed in the country. It is better to do the confirmation before the dissemination of the news,” the CEC told newsmen.