LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday barred a member of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir cabinet from joining the by-poll campaign in Lahore.

AJK minister Maqbool Ahmad had joined the election campaign for PTI candidates in the provincial metropolis.

District Monitoring Officer Adnan Iqbal said in a directive to the Lahore Capital City Police Officer that Mr Ahmad is reported to be participating in the election campaign as well as using state resources and accompanied by armed men in violation of the election code of conduct.

He asked the CCPO to immediately stop the AJK minister from the electioneering and expell him from four provincial assembly constituencies – PPs 158, 167, 168 and 170 – till the culmination of the election process on July 17.

Mr Iqbal also took notice of display of arms and indulging in a quarrel during a corner meeting by PTI candidate for PP-168 Nawaz Awan.

The DMO said that carrying armed guards during the election campaign and damaging law & order situation were violations of the election code of conduct.

He said that providing security to the candidates was a responsibility of the police and summoned Mr Awan on July 14 for clarifying his position.

Meanwhile, the Multan district monitoring officer has ordered an inquiry against PTI candidate for PP-217 Zain Qureshi on reports of vote buying.

In a directive to the Multan Saddar assistant commissioner and members of the monitoring team, the DMO sought a probe into reports that Mr Qureshi was offering a motorcycle in return for 10 votes.

The Muzaffargarh DMO imposed a fine of Rs50,000 each on the candidates of PTI and PML-N, Yasir Arafat and Sibtain Raza, respectively, on violation of election code.

The action was taken on a firing incident on July 11 in PP-273. Both the candidates were directed to submit the fine amount by July 15.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022