To prevent defaulters from taking part in May 11 general elections, the elections watchdog, the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday sought record of defaulters from eight state-run organisations.
The commission directed senior officials of the Ministry of Housing and Works, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited (SSGPL), the National Telecommunication Department, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Estate Officer, who deal with the Punjab, Sindh, KP and Kashmir houses in Islamabad, to provide lists of all defaulters.
Through a letter, Additional Secretary Afzal Khan directed the chiefs of the organisations to submit details of defaulters at the earliest. “I draw your attention towards the defaulters of your department and say that a list of defaulters may be provided to this office through hard and soft copies at the earliest to proceed further in the matter legally,” read the letter.
A spokesman of the ECP said the details would be shared with the returning officer for scrutiny of the candidates.
According to the law, defaulters of utility bills amounting to Rs 10,000 cannot take part in the elections.
If our 'representatives' are defaulters of these organizations so what. That is their birth right. If not then what is the use of their becoming 'representatives'.
I bet that most of our reps have defaulted with most of these providers but until there are some high profile casualities nothing will change. Not only should they be banned from elections, they should be jailed.
This is crazy. PKR 10,000 o/s bill diqualifies you. Stop being holier than the Pope. Be sensible; bank defaults of over PKR 0.5 mio, which is SBP's min secured lending benchmark should be applied and enforced. And dont forget the Govt MNA/MPA hostel/accomodation charges. That should also be be mandatorily cleared prior to acceptance of nomination papers. Come on ECP, be sensible and bold.
What about WAPDA ?
Just topi drama by ECP!! Steal billions, and you qualify; don't pay a utility bill and you are disqualified? Why not ask for a "defaulters list"/"loan-writeoff list" from State Bank / MCB / NBP / ZTB / etc.????
Comments are closed.