ECP slaps Rs50,000 fine on PM Khan for holding public gatherings despite warnings

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) slapped a fine of Rs50,000 on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan, Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Communications Murad Saeed and two provincial ministers Dr Amjad Ali and Muhibul Lah for violating the code of conduct as they all attended a public gathering in Swat on March 16 ahead of the no-confidence motion.

Earlier, the ECP had restricted PM Khan and other government officials from attending any public gathering in districts of KP as the second phase of the local bodies elections is due in the region. Despite this, the premier and his officials ignored the warning.

According to Geo News, District Monitoring Officer (DMO) Swat imposed a fine on the PM for breaching ECP’s code of conduct. Similarly, for attending a public gathering in Dir on March 19, Lower Dir’s District Monitoring Officer (DMO) Hameedul Lah had imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on PM Khan.

ECP has reportedly also taken notice of the PM’s upcoming visit to KP’s Mansehra and called it a breach of the code of conduct.