The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday issued a show cause notice to Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for holding a public rally in Lyari on Sunday last without getting prior permission from the district administration.
The Election Commission says that as per its code of conduct for elections, it is mandatory for each candidate to seek permission from relevant district administration at least three days prior to holding any public gathering or rally.
In the notice issued to Bilawal Bhutto, the Election Commission says the chairman PPP held the public rally in Lyari without getting prior permission from the deputy commissioner which was in violation of the code of conduct.
The rally was pelted with stones from the locals at some places in Lyari and the Election Commission says that it was the result of non-compliance with the code of conduct of the elections.
"Such situation was only caused since district administration had no prior information about this rally," the ECP said in the notice, "An NOC was required to be obtained from district administration at least three days prior to this rally but the same was not done, causing a law and order situation in the area."
The Election Commission further said that its monitoring teams in the area for PS-107 and PS-108 also conveyed such violation under Section 41 of the Election Code of Conduct.
"You are hereby required to submit the reply to this show cause notice as to why such violation was committed," reads the notice. It further says the reply must reach the ECP on July 5.
"Also be informed, repetition of such violation may lead to heavy fine followed by recommendation to district returning officer for disqualification of your candidature to contest the election," the ECP said.
The Election Commission has already written separate letters to chief secretaries of all four provinces directing them to ensure security of all the contestants. The provincial governments have also been asked to provide sufficient security to public gatherings and rallies being organized in their respective areas till July 25.
According to the ECP's data, as many as 12,570 candidates will be contesting for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the general election.
The data shows that 3,675 candidates are contesting for 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,895 candidates are in the contest for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies.
The ECP data shows that 1,696 candidates will contest from Punjab, 872 from Sindh, 760 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 303 from Balochistan for the 272 general seats of the National Assembly. Of the 3,675 candidates in the run for NA seats, 44 are non-Muslims and 172 are women.
Meanwhile, 4,242 candidates, of them 174 are women and 32 are non-Muslims, will fight for 297 general seats of the Punjab Assembly.
For 130 general seats of the Sindh Assembly, 2,382 candidates, including 91 women and 39 non-Muslims, are taking part in the contest. The ECP data further revealed that 1,264 will compete for 99 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats. The number includes 79 women and 20 non-Muslims.
Moreover, 1,007 candidates, including 42 women and 22 non-Muslims, are vying for the 51 general seats of the Balochistan Assembly.
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