The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and federal government are entangled in a fresh tiff after electoral body has restored its original code of conduct to bar top government and legislative functionaries from visiting any area where elections are scheduled – overlooking the presidential ordinance that allows all public office-holders to visit any area ahead of polls.

Recently, ECP held consultative sessions with political parties and restored its code of conduct that bars the president, prime minister, chairman and deputy chairman Senate, speaker and deputy speaker of any assembly, federal ministers, ministers of state, governors, chief ministers, provincial ministers and advisors to PM, mayors, chairmen, nazims and their deputies from visiting any area where elections are scheduled.

It allows other parliamentarians and members of provincial assemblies to visit or participate in the related election campaigns in areas where elections are scheduled.

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Restoration of original code of conduct by the electoral body has not gone done well with the federal government functionaries who believe that electoral body is not empowered to revise code of conduct after the issuance of Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 last month.

“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary under this act, rule or code of conduct or any other law, a member of Parliament (Majlis-o-Shoora), provincial assembly or elected member of local government, including member holding any other office under the constitution or any other law – may visit or address public meetings in any area or constituency during election campaign,” this ordinance reads.

A ruling party legislator, requesting anonymity, said ECP has no authority to challenge the promulgation of a presidential ordinance and parliamentary legislation.

“The ECP has the authority to override the decisions taken by the government. But presidential ordinance is promulgated by the president of Pakistan and it has to be presented in Parliament for endorsement. The ECP can hold consultative meetings with political parties on any issue but it cannot override the powers of president and Parliament no matter how it feels about any law,” the source said, adding that government would take up this issue with the electoral body.

The source said that Secretary ECP Omar Hamid Khan and relevant ECP officials recently held a meeting with Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan to convey the electoral body’s concerns on the ordinance.

The AGP told the ECP officials that all the legal aspects were considered before the promulgation of the ordinance and it was well within the president’s authority to issue ordinances, the source said.

A senior ECP official, however, insisted that Article 222 protected the powers of ECP and that the code of conduct was issued in accordance with Section 233 (1) of Elections Act 2017.

This section provides that the commission shall, in consultation with political parties, frame a code of conduct for political parties, contesting candidates, election agents and polling agents.

Former secretary ECP Kanwar Dilshad put his weight behind ECP. Article 222 makes it clear that no law shall have the effect of taking away or abridging any of the powers of ECP, he told Business Recorder.

“By restoring its original code of conduct, the ECP has simply maintained its integrity, impartiality and neutrality. The presidential ordinance is irrelevant now,” he added.

Following the revised code of conduct, the ECP, Friday, asked Prime Minister Imran Khan not to visit Lower Dir in view of local government elections scheduled there on the 31st of this month and warned to initiate ‘legal proceedings’ otherwise.

When contacted, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government spokesperson said the Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 allowed the PM’s visit to any area where elections were scheduled. “This ordinance is in place. So, the PM did not commit any illegality by visiting Lower Dir,” he said.

The electoral body can impose a fine of up to 50,000 rupees on anyone found guilty of violating the code of conduct, in exercise of its powers under Section 234 (3) of Elections Act 2017.

The ECP has the powers to disqualify any candidate from contesting LG polls if he/she is found violating electoral code of conduct more than once, under Section 234 (4) of Elections Act 2017.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on March 12, 2022.