Election Commission of Pakistan disqualifies Umar Amin Gandapur for contesting DI Khan mayor election
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday barred the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur from electioneering in Dera Ismail Khan and disqualified his brother, Umar Amin Gandapur, who was the ruling PTI’s candidate for the mayor’s slot.
A three-member bench headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the reserved verdict in a case against the federal minister for violating the election code of conduct for bye-election of mayor in Dera Ismail Khan on 13th of February.
The CEC a few days ago had ordered that Ali Amin Gandapur should be expelled from DI Khan after he was repeatedly found involved in violating the code of conduct and his videos of campaigning for the party candidates made rounds on social media. However, the minister had filed a petition against the expulsion order.
During the hearing of the case on Monday, the ECP allowed Ali Amin Gandapur to enter DI Khan but has barred him from holding any political event or addressing public gatherings and has disqualified Umar Amin Gandapur from taking part in the upcoming LG polls.
Last year in December, the ECP had also slapped a fine of Rs50,000 on the minister for violating the code of conduct for the local body elections. He was addressing a rally during the election campaign of his brother.
Separately, the electoral watchdog also ordered the K-P government to take action against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s brother, Ziaur Rehman, for violating the election code of conduct for the upcoming second phase of the LG polls in K-P.
Ziaur Rehman, who is also a government official, was served a notice for his participation in the election campaign and was summoned by the district returning officer (DRO) for running the campaign of the JUI-F candidate, Kafil Nizami.
The ECP on Monday sent a letter to the K-P chief secretary seeking departmental action against the government official.
“Zia-ur-Rehman participated in the election campaign of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) on February 3 and also spoke in favour of Kafil Nizami, who is the mayoral candidate of DI Khan. By law, no government employee can participate in elections or the electoral process,” the letter stated.
Meanwhile, the ECP also issued notices to JUI’s MNA Jamaluddin for holding a press conference in favour of the mayoral candidate.
The commission has also sought clarification from Nizami regarding the February 5 rally and inquired why the party had held the rally despite being barred from holding such activities.