Taking notice of the arrest of two candidates from South Waziristan who are taking part in elections on July 20 on the respective seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned a top provincial government official concerned today (Friday).
On June 19, the local police arrested one Muhammad Arif who is contesting the election from PK-113, South Waziristan-I. On June 24, the police arrested another candidate Muhammad Iqbal who is contesting election from PK-114, South Waziristan-II.
Both the candidates have been arrested in the light of Section 3 of West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Ordinance 1960.
This Section reads: "(3) (a) An order of arrest under sub-section (1) may be addressed to a police officer or any other person and such officer or person shall have the power to arrest the person mentioned in the order and in doing so he may use such force as may be necessary. The police officer or the other person, as the case may be, shall commit the arrested person to such custody as may be prescribed under sub-section (7). (b) A police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector, if satisfied on receipt of credible information that a person against whom an order of arrest or of arrest and detention has been made under this section is present within such officer's jurisdiction, may arrest him without a warrant in the same manner as he would 'have done if such order of arrest had been addressed to him, and thereupon commit the a rested person to such custody as' may be prescribed under sub-section (7), or if he receives any requisition."
Taking notice of these arrests, the ECP has summoned Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ikramullah Khan to explain his position regarding the detention of candidates before the elections. "The said act of the administration prior to conduct of election is tantamount to obstruct the election campaign and the constitutional duty of the Election Commission in respect of free, fair and transparent elections in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Constitution," the ECP said in its notice to the secretary Home and Tribal Affairs KP.
The ECP notice cited the reports that the two candidates are detained respectively in the jails of Haripur and Dera Ismail Khan on the orders of deputy commissioner South Waziristan.
The ECP is scheduled to hold elections on 16 seats in KP Assembly of erstwhile FATA on July 20.
These seats include PK-100 Bajaur-I, PK-101 Bajaur-II, PK-102 Bajaur-III, PK-103 Mohmand-I, PK-104 Mohmand-Il, PK-105 Khyber-I, PK-106 Khyber-II, PK-107 Khyber-III, PK-108 Kurram-I, PK-109 Kurram-II, PK-110 Orakzai, PK-111 North Waziristan-I, PK-112 North Waziristan-II, PK-113 South Waziristan-I, PK-114 South Waziristan-II, PK-114 South Waziristan-II and PK-115 Ex-Frontier Regions.
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