ISLAMABAD:
Caretaker governments, per the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), may proceed with actions or decisions regarding bilateral or multilateral agreements already initiated under the Commission’s intimation, but they are prohibited from attempting to influence polls in the country, the ECP said on Monday.
To ensure “immediate completion” of all arrangements concerning the holding of polls and the availability of relevant material, the elections supervising body further instructed in-charges of all its wings and the provincial election commissioners.
The ECP said in a statement released on Monday that it was certain the country could hold “free and fair” elections with the current arrangements.
“The caretaker governments shall not attempt to influence the elections or do or cause to be done anything which may, in any manner, influence or adversely affect the free and fair elections,” the statement read.
It further stated that the interim governments have the authority to make decisions regarding any ongoing bilateral or multilateral agreements or projects.
“The caretaker governments being non-political entities can take actions or decisions regarding existing bilateral or multilateral agreements or projects already initiated under the Public Private Partnership Authority Act, 2017 (VIII of 2017), the Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Act, 2022 (XXX of 2022), and the Privatization Commission Ordinance, 2000 (LII of 2000) under intimation to this Commission,” the statement read.
In the meantime, ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan presided over a meeting to discuss the approaching elections.
The huddle included the special secretary of the ECP, the DG of law, provincial election commissioners, and other high-ranking personnel.
Khan was updated on the preparations for the impending elections by the special secretary and the provincial election commissioners.
The ECP secretary remarked favorably on the progress made and issued directives to the leaders of all election commission divisions and provincial election commissioners to complete the necessary preparations, make contact with the relevant authorities, and guarantee the availability of election materials.
There would be zero tolerance for carelessness in this area, it was added.
To ensure that constituency maps and critical data were received on time from province governments and the Statistics Department, the ECP secretary instructed provincial election commissioners and the assistant director general (election), Islamabad.
To guarantee that these safeguards were put into effect, the election supervisor formed a powerful monitoring committee under the direction of the special secretary.
