ISLAMABAD: Chief spokesperson for the government Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday questioned the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to issue a notice to Prime Minister Imran Khan for visiting Ghotki ahead of a by-election on a National Assembly seat (NA-205) scheduled to be held on July 18.

“The prime minister had gone to Ghotki to convey his condolences over the death of federal minister Ali Mohammad Mahar. There was no press conference and the prime minister did not announce any package for the people of the area,” said Ms Awan, adviser to the PM on information.

Talking to reporters outside the parliament, she said it was strange that the ECP had issued a notice to the prime minister for visiting Ghotki, but it turned a blind eye when the Sindh chief minister opened his coffers for campaigning, or when sitting members of parliament went to places and tried to entice the electorate by offering lucrative development packages.

She said the Sindh ministers had officially been assigned duties for the election campaign. She said that not only the provincial ministers were blatantly violating ECP’s code of conduct but the candidates of the Pakistan Peoples Party were running their election campaigns with Sindh police protocol.

Asks why the commission is silent over violations by Sindh CM, PPP ministers

“Why is the ECP silent over these violations?” she questioned.

However, a spokesman for the ECP rejected Ms Awan’s allegations and said that only four complaints had been received on which action had immediately been taken.

He said explanation had been sought from the Ghotki SSP for according protocol to a VIP while immediate action had been taken on the complaint of a transfer in a provincial government department.

He said the ECP was acting on complaints received from all political parties in accordance with the law.

The prime minister had visited Ghotki on Wednesday to express his condolences on the death of federal minister for narcotics control Ali Mohammad Mahar. Mahar’s death has necessitated a by-election for the NA-205 seat. The by-election is scheduled to take place on July 18.

While in Ghotki, the prime minister assured the Mahar brothers that the PPP would not be allowed to rig the by-election and that he would issue directives to the authorities concerned to ensure that.

Besides the PM, the ECP also issued show-cause notices to Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza, Minister for Privatisation Muhammadmian Soomro and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail for visiting Ghotki prior to the by-election.

In the show-cause notice, all of the ministers have been given one week to submit a reply on the matter.

According to Para 17(b) of the ECP’s code of conduct, no member of parliament can visit a constituency where by-elections are scheduled after the dates for the election have been notified.

According to a letter issued by the ECP, a complaint against the PM’s visit was registered by Abdul Bari Pitafi, a candidate from the constituency.

The candidate pointed out that the PM’s visit to Ghotki was in violation of the ECP’s code of conduct as the schedule for the by-election had already been notified.

Earlier on Wednesday, PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who is also the spokesperson for the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, also accused the prime minister of violating the ECP rules. “The visit of the prime minister to the National Assembly’s constituency 205 is rigging,” Senator Khokhar had said in a statement.

He had urged the ECP to take notice of what he called “interference” of the prime minister and federal ministers in election affairs. “If the Election Commission wants to protect its image from further deterioration, it should take action over the violation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the ECP also took notice of the launching ceremony of ‘Insaf rozgar scheme’ ahead of the provincial assembly elections in erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) to provide interest-free loans to the people of the tribal districts affected by poverty and terrorism.

The ECP has directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, finance secretary and other relevant officers to stop implementation of the scheme and not to release funds for it.

The chief secretary has been asked to submit a compliance report along with details of the scheme to the ECP on or before July 25.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2019