ISLAMABAD: Most political parties have opposed the proposed ban on public rallies and advertisements during the 2018 elections and expressed reservations overvarious other clauses of the draft code of conduct prepared by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The concerns were expressed by the representatives of 16 parties represented in parliament during a consultative meeting on the proposed code of conduct for 2018 elections. It was presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan. None of the party heads attended the meeting held on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad said the commission had asked all political parties to submit written proposals on the code of conduct. He confirmed that most of the parties had reservations over the proposed ban on public rallies and processions but agreed on a proposal for ban on panaflex and banners.

He said a suggestion was made during the consultative session that the commission should allow one public rally in each constituency.About the proposed ban on provision of transport to voters by political parties, he said some parties were of the opinion that the code of conduct should be formulated keeping in view the ground realities in some areas of Balochistan and Sindh. It was pointed out that some constituencies were so big that provision of transport would be required there.

The ECP secretary said all the parties had expressed their determination to empower the commission.

During the meeting, CE C Justice Raza observed that the loss of precious lives and excessive use of money in polls could be prevented by imposing a ban on public rallies and processions. He said the Constitution empowered the ECP to conduct free and fair elections and guard against corrupt practices. He said the commission also had the authority to stop the blatant use of money in electoral exercises and cited the provisions of Representation of Peoples Act in this regard.

The CEC said the commission was making preparations to hold free, fair and impartial elections in 2018, adding that the draft code of conduct had been prepared in the light of the Supreme Court`s verdict in the Watan Party case.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Senator Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli AwamiParty said transparent census and delimitation were a must for fair elections. He claimed that 30 per cent delimitation had been made at the whim of influential people.

Latif Khosa of the Pakistan Peoples Party was of the view that returning and district returning officers should be drawn from among the ECP officials. He said drawing ROs and DROs from the judiciary in the last general elections was not a good experience.

He said the proposed ban on public rallies during election campaigns was against democratic norms. A big public gathering must be allowed in each constituency, in addition to corner meetings, he added.

Dr Arif Alvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf told reporters that he had proposed a public hearing on the code of conduct, besides consulting political parties. He said the ECP should announce that documentary evidence about violation of the code of conduct would entail an action.

Mr Alvi said he had also insisted on using biometric verification machines to authenticate voters at polling stations as well as electronic voting machines during the next general elections. He regretted that the law prescribing limit on election expenses had openly been violated in various by-elections, with the ECP taking no action at all.