ECP summons Imran Khan for violating code of conduct in Kurram

• The ECP issued notices to Imran Khan and a KP minister over a code of conduct violation.
• The by-election in the NA-45 will be held tomorrow.
• Imran Khan is contesting the by-polls in Kurram.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) summoned Chairman PTI Imran Khan and a minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on November 1 for violating the code of conduct in NA-45 Kurram. 

Imran Khan is contesting the polls for the National Assembly seat from Kurram. The electoral body has issued notices to him and KP Minister for Settlement Iqbal Wazir.

By-poll in the NA-45 will be held tomorrow.

The electoral body received a report from the district monitoring officer Kurram that Iqbal Wazir violated the ECP's code of conduct. According to the report, the KP MPA was fined Rs 30,000 for continuously violating the code of conduct. However, the minister has not yet paid the fine.

It is the constitutional and legal responsibility of the commission to make such arrangements for the election so that the election is free and fair. 

The report said that the election campaign of the provincial minister is being influenced by using government resources, which is against Article 218 (3) of the Constitution and it is the responsibility of the commission to take legal action against the violators. 

Under Section 182 of the Elections Act 2017, the time for the campaigning will end at 12 o’clock on Friday, and hence no candidate can campaign after 12 o’clock. According to the ECP spokesperson, the violators can be imprisoned for up to two years or fined up to Rs 10,000 or both.