Daily Times

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday banned transfers and postings on the federal level until the formation of a caretaker setup.

The development came following President Dr Arif Alvi’s assent to the premature dissolution of the National Assembly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif forwarded the summary.

In a letter sent to the Establishment Division, the electoral body said that the National Assembly has been dissolved, adding that all the transfers and postings should be stopped until the formation of a caretaker setup. The ECP’s letter also said that the interim government will take charge soon. “It has been learnt that transfer and postings of officers have been planned in ministries and divisions on a large scale,” said the ECP, urging that any such decision should be avoided until the interim government comes.

The transfers and postings can take place as per the law and policy after the interim government takes charge, added the letter.

With the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, the federal cabinet also stood dissolved. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa interim Information Minister Feroze Jamal said that nineteen members of the caretaker cabinet in the province, including him, had submitted their resignations to interim Chief Minister Azam Khan in light of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) instructions.

The ECP had directed the caretaker CM last month to immediately sack his ministers, advisers and special Assistants “involved in politics” to ensure free and fair electoral exercise in the province. The instructions were issued after PTI KP chief Ali Amin Khan Gandapur wrote a letter – which was signed by 52 ex-MPAs – to the ECP, seeking a level-playing field for all political parties in the coming general elections.

“The CM told us the election commission has made it clear that he needed to constitute a new non-political interim cabinet as all of its current members had political associations,” Jamal told media, adding that 19 of them had resigned and the rest could not as they were out of Peshawar.

“Those who are out of the city are returning [to submit their resignations]. But in case they are unable to resign for any reason, they would be de-notified tomorrow,” he said.

Jamal added that it was “too early to say when the resignations will be accepted”.

A caretaker government has been at the helm at KP since January when the provincial cabinet was dissolved after PTI Chairman Imran Khan had vowed to disassociate himself from the “current corrupt political system” by quitting the assemblies where his party was in power.