The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday barred the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), and other political parties from contesting elections for not submitting their financial records on time.
An official notice from the election body said, “Political parties that did not submit their financial records before the final submission date [August 29] will not be allowed to contest any future elections, neither will they be assigned election symbols.”
Out of 345 political parties registered with the ECP, only 31 have submitted their financial records before the final date.
The ECP had also reminded political parties to submit [financial records] to the commission within 60 days of the close of each financial year.
PML-Zia, PML-Junejo and Pakhutunkhwa Mili Awami Party also did not submit their records.
Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen and Qaumi Watan Party gave in their records after the final date had passed and therefore, will not be allowed to contest elections.
According to Article 14 of the Political Parties Order 2002, a party which does not submit its bank statements under Article 13 will be disqualified from contesting elections.
