Ministers, lawmakers can now attend public rallies as ECP law amended

ISLAMABAD: Federal government has amended a law related to the code of conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), allowing ministers and lawmakers to attend public gatherings, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details, the federal cabinet has approved an ordinance, making amendments in the election commission’s code of conduct.

Reservations have been raised from both sides of the aisle in the Parliament over the code of conduct of the ECP previously and the new changes to the ECP law will now allow lawmakers and ministers to attend public gatherings.

During the first phase of the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and by-elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan has issued show-cause notices to top lawmakers including National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Bilawal Bhutto and others for attending public gatherings in the constituencies.

The federal government has recently also made changes to election-related bills after it passed important bills including the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Second Election Amendment Bill 2021 from the joint session of the Parliament.

The bills related to the use of EVMs and Second Election Amendment Bill 2021 were presented by Adviser to Parliamentary Affairs Dr Bbar Awan in the joint session of the Parliament.

President Arif Alvi later signed the Electoral Reforms Bill 2021, days after the joint session of the Parliament gave it a go-ahead with a majority vote.

Addressing the signing ceremony, the president congratulated Prime Minister Imran Khan for his untiring efforts aimed at introducing electoral reforms in the country.