ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has uploaded details of nomination papers and affidavits of all contestants for the upcoming general elections on its official website, a local media outlet reported on Tuesday.
Political parties over the recent years have opposed ECP’s aims to upload details on assets, nomination papers and other relevant information on the website. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposed the planned move during deliberations in parliament when they were in power.
Pressure from political leaders had previously forced the ECP to avoid uploading data for the 2018 elections candidates and even remove data for the 2013 candidates. The Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms requested the ECP to avoid sharing data on its website as it would be a security risk and a violation of privacy.
The ECP had argued that such information should be easily available to the public in order to ensure a better system of checks and balances and allow voters to hold leader accountable. However, the ECP eventually backtracked due to political pressure at the time.
