ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to consult with all major political parties on reducing the amount of spending on elections.

The decision was taken in light of a Supreme Court judgement in the Workers’ Party Pakistan’s case for framing a code of conduct for regulating spending during elections.

Though the law prescribed a limit for spending on elections, there is no mechanism to make sure the law is being followed.

The limit for spending on elections is Rs1 million for candidates for provincial assembly seats and Rs1.5 million for candidates for National Assembly seats, though many candidates even cross the limit each day.

The commission has convened a meeting of 16 political parties on October 28 at the ECP headquarters where a draft code of conduct on the matter will be shared and input for further improvement sought.

The parties that have been invited include the PML-N, PPP, PTI, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamaat-Ulema-i-Islam, PML-Q, Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party, National Party, Balochistan National Party, Awami Muslim League Pakistan, National People’s Party, PML (functional) and PML (Zia).

ECP Additional Secretary Fida Mohammad told Dawn that invitations were sent to party heads.

This will be the second national level consultative meeting of the ECP with political parties, with the first held last year before the local government elections in Punjab, Sindh and the federal capital.

It will, however, be the first consultative meeting of the ECP after the appointment of four new members following the change in eligibility criteria in order to allow room for the appointment of retired bureaucrats and technocrats.

The decision to convene the meeting was taken days after the ECP reactivated its political finance wing which was formed to scrutinise lawmakers’ assets.

Though there is no specific law for the scrutiny of lawmakers’ assets and to punish those found guilty of concealing their assets, many believe that Article 218(3) of the Constitution gives the ECP the power to guard against corrupt practices of any sort.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2016