October 31, 2007	Wednesday	Shawwal 18, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The youth wings of nine major political parties have agreed on a ‘code of conduct’ for ensuring free and fair elections for their youth wings.

In the code, the youth wing members have promised to promote a peaceful electoral climate, condemn the use of all kinds of violence and intimidation, promote tolerance during the campaign, respect the rights of all parties to conduct campaign activities, facilitate the full participation of women and minorities and take steps to eradicate all forms of electoral fraud.

The participating parties include: the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-F), Awami National Party (ANP), Pashtunkhaw Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party (BNP) and National Party (NP).

The 27-point code was developed by 45 young leaders from nine major political parties as part of their training during a year- long programme to strengthen youth political participation.

The programme had been organized by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). The code of conduct was signed by each participant, representing all four provinces, during their final session in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The youth wing members committed to promote the code of conduct in their party’s youth wing and to distribute it widely during the election campaign to raise voter awareness about their commitment to conducting a peaceful, tolerant election campaign that respects the rights of all parties.

“We, the youth wings of political parties in Pakistan, solemnly undertake and promise to one another, and to the citizens of our country, that we shall observe, and actively promote this Code among our members and the electorate,” the young leaders emphasized in the code of conduct.