ECP summons Imran Khan, Hamza Shahbaz
PTI authority Imran Khan.
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned PTI arch Imran Khan and PML-N lawmaker Hamza Shahbaz to seem before it on Feb 14 and explain because they allegedly campaigned for their celebration possibilities during a by-election in defilement of a ECP’s formula of conduct.
According to a ECP code, a primary apportion and cupboard members as good as all MNAs, MPAs and senators are barred from participating in choosing campaigns of their celebration candidates.
However, lawmakers from roughly all a parties have been plainly defying this provision, until a retuning officer (RO) in Jhelum served notices to Imran and Hamza for using choosing campaigns for their possibilities during a by-poll hold during NA-63 Jhelum on Aug 31.
Imran visited a subdivision on Aug 24, 2016 while Hamza, who is a son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, visited it dual days earlier. Hamza had not responded to a RO’s notices while Imran’s counsel had taken a defence that a Lahore High Court (LHC) scrapped a sustenance in May 2015.
The ECP had approached a Supreme Court opposite a LHC preference that sent a matter behind to a LHC. By that time a internal supervision elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) – that triggered a petition – had finished and a box could not ensue further.
The ECP claims that a LHC’s progressing preference is not in a margin anymore and a sustenance in a formula of control that bars lawmakers from holding partial in choosing campaigns is intact. The ECP during a time of proclamation of schedules for all successive polls had been arising a same formula of conduct.
The ECP’s RO in Jhelum was not confident with Imran Khan’s defence and sent a matter to a ECP. Similarly, he sent dual notices to MNA Hamza Shahbaz though a PML-N lawmaker did not worry to respond. The RO had sent his box to a ECP as well.
Encouraged by their colleague’s brazen stance, a ROs supervising by-polls for a Punjab Assembly seats in Vehari and Taxila also released identical notices to a PTI arch and after sent their box to a ECP.
This box is expected to transparent ambiguity per MNAs and MPAs appearance in a by-elections campaigns if it is critical in implementing a rules.
ECP serves queries to 85 MNAs
The applicable wing of a ECP – traffic with review of statements of accounts and liabilities each lawmaker submits with a elect – has served queries to roughly all a 85 MNAs whose statements it has scrutinised. Prominent among them are JUI-F arch Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PTI arch Imran Khan and ANP personality Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.
The ECP’s Directorate of Political Finance set adult final year, had started a first-ever review of statements of resources all lawmakers record with a ECP each year. It is scheduled to finish a charge by Jun this year.
However, a dual teams operative on a plan have not been receiving an enlivening response from many MNAs whose statements mostly uncover ‘material variations’ when compared with their prior statements.
Quoting examples, an central pronounced in many cases an MNA mentions a skill in one year and a subsequent year it goes missing. The lawmakers also supplement some new item though do not discuss a sources of income by that a skill was purchased. One common anomaly in roughly all a cases is sum understatement of value of their properties that are value millions of rupees as per market.
Started from Dec 1, a ECP is doubtful to be means to get discernible formula from a plan it started with lots of media hype.
Published in The Express Tribune, Feb 9th, 2017.
Article source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/1321152/violation-code-ecp-summons-imran-khan-hamza-shahbaz/