22 July 2004	Thursday	04 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 21: The Election Commission on Tuesday asked the political parties to submit audited accounts of their respected parties complete with annual income, sources of funds, assets and liabilities by Aug 29.

According to the election commission records, 73 political parties were allotted election symbols during October 2002 general election. A senior official of the commission said that last year all the major parties had submitted their accounts statements.

Though Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and 27 other political parties had filed their statements after the expiry of last date, the commission had accepted their accounts.

Article 13 of the Political Parties Order 2002 requires from every party to submit to the commission within 60 days from the close of each financial year, a consolidated statement of accounts of the party.

According to the rules, the statement of accounts of the party is required to be accompanied by a certificate signed by the party leader stating that no funds from any source prohibited under the political parties order, 2002 were received by the party and that the statement contains an accurate financial position of the party.