GUJRAT: Scores of local advertisers on Tuesday staged a demonstration against the restrictions on using panaflexes of specific size and other such publicity material for the campaign as per the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The advertisers, led by Gujrat Advertising Association President Malik Shahbaz, took out a rally from Rehman Shaheed Road and gathered at Kutchehry Chowk where they staged a demonstration and flayed the ECP code of conduct regarding specific size of the publicity material.

The protesters were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands and said the local advertising sector had to bear a loss of millions of rupees due to the ban on certain advertising material for the election campaign as they had already prepared a lot of panaflexes ordered by the candidates but now the candidates were neither collecting their consignments not making payment to them.

They demanded that the ECP relax the code of conduct to save the sector from huge losses.

Meanwhile, Gujrat Deputy Commissioner/District Monitoring Officer Tauseef Dilshad Kathana has issued warning to at least a dozen candidates belonging to various political parties as well as some representatives of the local bodies for allegedly committing violation of the ECP code of conduct.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2018