The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told the Supreme Court (SC) that the far-right political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has not yet submitted the financial details of its election campaign during the 2018 general elections.
This information was given to the top court as it begins hearing a case pertaining to the 20 day Faizabad sit-in in 2017 on Friday. According to ECP, the financial details had to be audited by a chartered accountant to highlight income, expenses, funds, assets and liabilities.
“The subject political party (TLP) participated in the general elections, 2018 but has not submitted the details of the Campaign Finance till date,” the statement said.
In the last hearing on October 11, SC had asked the election regulatory body to provide the documentation registering TLP as a political body, and the accountant general to probe whether the ECP or federal government had the powers to regulate the conduct of political parties under the Elections Act 2017.
In response ECP had said that it issued notices to all parties that had not submitted financial statements, threatening that their election symbols will be withheld in case of non-cooperation. It had also framed a code of conduct for political parties under Section 233 of the Election Act, repealing all previous election related laws.
