Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Elected representatives on Tuesday admitted publicly that they submitted false details to the election commission regarding their election campaign expenses while demanding that returning officers should not be from the judiciary in the next elections.

In a meeting of the National Assembly standing committee for parliamentary affairs in Parliament House, members could not reach a consensus regarding election expenses. Mian Manan chaired the meeting and was of the view that there were no limits to election expenses in 24 countries including the US, UK and Germany. No action had been taken against any MNA for crossing the limits of election expenses. “We are not mad that we will submit in writing to the election commission that we spent more than the limits allow, the committee chairman said.

The committee discussed the PPP MNA Azra Fazal’s private members bill regarding election expenses; she proposed Rs 4 million for an MNA. Election commission officials said that legal action would be taken against candidates who violated the limit of expenses but it was the parliament who had to decide this.

Committee member Malik Aitbar said that Rs 4 million was not enough, as on polling day millions of rupees were spent on transport arrangements for voters. Malik Aitbar admitted to giving false statement regarding election expenses, and other members also supported him.

Committee member Mian Tariq launched into a tirade against returning officers and police culture and said that money matters in every election, and expenditure should not be curtailed. The committee unanimously recommended that capacity building of the election commission staff should be enhanced, and that the returning officer should be an employee of the election commission.