LAHORE: The PPP alleges that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is inactive on continued violations of the code of conduct for NA-120 by-polls.

“By-election for NA-120 is round the corner and electioneering has entered its final stages with the PML-N government continuing use of state resources for its nominee Begum Kulsoom Nawaz. The Election Commission is doing nothing except issuing notices after notices with no positive response from the government,” PPP Central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira told a press conference on Wednesday.

He said the ECP had been issuing the same notices to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan with no response from him too for the last four years.

He said Parliament had empowered the ECP with taking measures for free and fair elections but it was not using its powers to check the code violations.

“What’s barring the Election Commission from acting against the violators? What fears its authorities have in their minds?”

Kaira warned that notices sans any visible and stringent action against violations would only encourage the violators to go on with their violations whereas the ECP would be unable to make up for the loss of the rival parties’ candidates after the polling process would be over.

He said rifts in the PML-N were widening with each passing day and that the party was intact only because of its federal and Punjab governments.

He said a party carved out of other parties could not remain intact for long.

Mr Kaira said it was better to abolish the laws instead of humiliating them.

He opposed ban on leadership of any party to run election campaign in a by-poll.

PPP Punjab general secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan also regretted that the ECP was inactive on violations of the code of conduct.

He taunted if the ECP could not control the violations, “headmasters” should be tasked with holding the elections and even deputy commissioners should be ordered to supervise the polling process to the benefit of the ruling party.

Referring to the burning of the record of the federal tax ombudsmen, he urged the judiciary to take precautionary measures for protecting its record as documents of other departments had started to burn down.

He recalled that the record of Nandipur power project and other mega projects had been put on fire with impunity.

He demanded that 90-The Mall (the Chief Minister’s Secretariat) should also be held accountable (for misuse of powers) instead of confining the process to just a few families.

He said the PPP would show its popularity among the masses by holding a public meeting in Mozang on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2017