GUJRAT: Five district coordination officers (DCOs) of Gujranwala division have refused to perform duties as district returning officers (DROs) in their respective districts for the upcoming local government elections citing floods and monsoon rains in August and September as the reason.

Well-placed official sources told Dawn Gujrat DCO Liaquat Ali Chattha was the first one to inform Gujranwala Commissioner Shumail Ahmed Khawaja through a letter that due to the upcoming floods and monsoon rains, it would be difficult for him to perform election duty. Following this, DCOs of Sialkot, Narowal, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin districts also wrote to the commissioner citing the same reason.

The provincial election commissioner had appointed the five DCOs as DROs in their respective districts. Gujranwala DCO Azmat Mehmood had not been assigned the duty; a senior official in the provincial election commission was deputed instead of him.

Senior officials in the district and tehsil administrations from across Gujranwala division had also been appointed as returning and assistant returning officers. These officials had completed a three-day training by officials of the election commission.

The Gujranwala commissioner had sent a letter to the provincial election commission based on the letters written to him by the DCOs, asking they be exempted from election duty. Fresh appointments were sought by the divisional administration.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

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