The Election Commission of Pakistan would summon the food and agriculture and information secretaries about the farmers’ package announced by the prime minister ahead of the local government polls in the Punjab and Sindh.
The ECP, at its high-level meeting yesterday, was of the view that the announcement of multi-billion package for farmers across the country was a gross violation of the code of conduct set by the commission ahead of the local government polls in the two provinces that would start in November in three different phases.The ECP code of conduct strictly prevents the government from announcing uplift schemes after the announcement of the LG election schedule and by-elections in three constituencies in the Punjab.
To the contrary, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last Tuesday announced a hefty amount of Rs 341 billion aimed at giving relief to farmers. The fund will enable the farmers’ community to receive the money in grants, subsidies and loan advances from the government. Although the ECP earlier kept quiet over the blatant violation of the code of conduct by Premier Sharif, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Sardar Raza Khan and its members held informal meetings to strategise on the violation. The PML-N is now facing trouble. The ECP has summoned both the Food and Agriculture, and Information secretaries to answer for it. The contention is simple, and sensible; the government is not allowed to announce ‘uplifting schemes or policies’ after the announcement of the LG Schedule, since doing so would allow it to sway voter preferences by providing monetary incentives. This ECP, having given this opinion in a non-judicial setting is in no place to dole out punishment, but it must initiate some punitive measures if its code of conduct is ever going to be taken seriously. An economic policy for agriculture would have otherwise been highly commendable, but the timing and the structure of the present policy make it seem suspiciously like bribery, and thinly disguised election fraud. The fund will enable the farmers’ community to receive the money in grants, subsidies and loan advances from the government – all under their discretionary power instead of an explicitly elucidated criterion, which is administered by a neutral body. Even if it provides relief to some genuinely deserving farmers, the method is wrong, throwing cash at a problem until it disappears is ad hoc at best, and short-sighted at worst. The only achievement this policy will have would be to reward PML-N sympathisers and to cajole the ones who are not.The verdict from the ECP must not be left as it is, the package must be withdrawn and any candidate using it to garner votes must be punished.
pk.shafaqna.com
