The Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended a notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which barred members of the national and provincial assemblies from participating in election campaigns for by-elections being held in various vacant constituencies.Justice Ayesha A Malik of the LHC heard arguments on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenging the notification, following which she suspended the notification, allowing parliamentarians to participate in the campaigns. PTI’s MPA Shoaib Siddique in his petition submitted that the impugned notification was in sheer violation of fundamental rights and norms of democracy. The petitioner, through his counsels Hamid Khan and Advocate Ahmed Awais, further submitted that PTI chairman Imran Khan was a member of the National Assembly and by virtue of the ban could not visit the area of any political constituency, where the by-elections were being held. He added that it was integral to an electoral campaign that the party leaders visit constituencies, address electorates and meet party workers. After the court judgment, now the leadership of the PML-N has also geared up to address public rallies. Imran Khan has announced that he would take part in electioneering in NA-122 in Lahore while Hamza Shahbaz Sharif has also announced that he will take charge of Ayaz Sadiq’s election campaign. The present ECP members have already become controversial after the findings of irregularities in the conduct of the 2013 general elections. Now, the impugned notification has caused more embarrassment for the ECP and fingers are being raised at its partisan role. The top electoral body should not victimise the PTI for raising the issue of reforms in the electoral process. Rather, it should welcome it and work on improving this constitutional institution. Such an act by the ECP has also strengthened Imran Khan’s claims that the ECP has introduced this undemocratic electoral rule to specifically restrain him from campaigning. It is the responsibility of the ECP to organise free and fair elections in the country and it should not impose illegal decisions on political parties that have no precedent in the political history of the country and elsewhere. It is the right of every political party leadership to reach the masses and brief them about their manifesto before any election. The ECP needs to provide a level playing field to each candidate and should not take biased decisions against any single political party. There are other matters that need the attention of the ECP. It should work on how to stop irregularities in the polling process and make political parties comply with the code of conduct instead of infringing on their fundamental rights.
pk.shafaqna.com
