ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) frozen municipal institutions’ development money ahead of the polls on February 8.
The poll organizing authority announced in a notification that the uplift funds for local government (LG) institutions would be suspended until the results of the election were announced.
According to the new directive, local administrations will only handle standard cleaning and sanitation tasks nationwide.
In addition, the ECP forbade the beginning of any LG development plans other than those that were already underway and had been approved prior to the election date.
Additionally, until the end of the entire electoral process, municipal bodies and cantonment boards are not allowed to issue tenders.
Another event from today was that the national polling commission notified the candidates and political parties running for office that there would be no further polling campaigns after February 6 at midnight.
A spokeswoman for ECP was quoted in The News as saying, “In accordance with Section 182 of the Elections Act 2017, no person shall hold or participate in any public meeting, procession, corner meeting, or such political activity after midnight on February 6, 2024, and February 7, 2024.”
The spokesperson continued, “Therefore, legal action will be taken against any person who violates the above provision of the law.”
The scheduled date of the polls is February 8.
Election Safety Code
The ECP released its “Code of Conduct for Security Personnel” last week, cautioning them against showing bias while performing their duties related to elections.
Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are directed to carry out their tasks in compliance with the law and within the parameters of the police mandate by the ECP’s protocol, which does not include the military forces or civil armed forces.
Personnel responsible for providing security for the printing and transportation of voting materials and polling bag sets shall carry out their duties in accordance with Article 220 of the Pakistani Constitution, Section 5, as well as Section 193 of the Election Act, 2017.
The electoral authority has emphasized that the security apparatus must work with district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and presiding officers (POs).
