Says maintaining law and order situation responsibility of provincial governments
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a meeting at the Civil Secretariat here on Saturday, to review the arrangements for by-elections, to be held in 20 provincial constituencies of 14 districts of Punjab on July 17, 2022. Members of the Election Commission, Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Afzal, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Home Syed Ali Murtaza, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan, Punjab Rangers’ Additional Director General, secretaries of provincial departments concerned, Lahore commissioner and other senior officers attended the meeting, while commissioners of other respective districts participated through video link.
The meeting was told that around 3,141 polling stations would be set up in these constituencies and a total of 175 candidates were contesting the by-elections. CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja said that maintaining law and order situation and providing security to the election staff and voters was a responsibility of the federal and provincial governments and their role in polling process was very important. He added that it was a responsibility of the provincial institutions to ensure peace during the election. He warned that strict action would be taken against those involved in misconduct and irregularities during the election, asserting that violators would be prosecuted under the criminal code and relevant election laws.
If any public official violated the code of conduct or acted against the law on the polling day, action would be taken against them without any discrimination, he warned.
