ISLAMABAD/ DI KHAN: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday barred the Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin 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) announced the reserved verdict in a case against the federal minister for violating the election code of conduct for the upcoming second phase of the local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
CEC a few days ago had ordered that Ali 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 today, the ECP allowed Ali to enter DI Khan but has barred him from holding any political event or addressing public gatherings and has disqualified Umar 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, Zia-ur-Rehman, for violating the election code of conduct for the upcoming second phase of the LG polls in K-P.
Zia ur 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.
