Daily Times

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday warned Prime Minister Imran Khan against visiting Peshawar ahead of the local government elections.

The warning came before the prime minister launched “Micro Health Insurance Programme” during his day-long visit to Peshawar.

In a letter to the premier, the ECP referred to a news report about the PM’s scheduled visit to the provincial capital and reminded him of the commission’s Nov 4 notification, detailing instructions for parties and contesting candidates ahead of the elections.

The ECP has set Dec 19 and Jan 16 as the dates for the first and second phase of local government elections in the province. “After the issuance of election schedule, the president, prime minister, governor, speaker, deputy speaker of any assembly chairman and deputy chairman of Senate, federal and provincial ministers, advisors to the prime minister or chief minister or any other holder of public office shall not visit the area of any local council to announce any development scheme or to canvass or campaign for any candidate,” the ECP said in its letter.

The ECP advised the premier not to violate any provision of the code of conduct and instructions issued by it, warning that “legal proceedings under Sections 233 (code of conduct) and 234 (monitoring of election campaigns) of the Elections Act, 2017 shall be initiated against you.” Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the KP Chief Minister on Information Kamran Khan Bangash clarified that the premier’s visit to Peshawar was “purely an official one”. “It [the visit] is a part of daily affairs of the state on which there are no restrictions,” he said in a statement.

Bangash insisted that the prime minister’s participation in a function at the Governor House was official, adding he won’t take part in any public gathering related to the elections. He highlighted that the local government elections were being held only in a few districts of the province; however, “the premier’s welfare programme is meant for the poor from across Pakistan.”