LAHORE  -  Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Dr Hassan Askari has said that holding free, fair and transparent elections is top priority of the government and the provincial administration is fully active in this regard.

“Nobody will be allowed to put hurdles in the electoral process and the Election Commission of Pakistan will ensure implementation of the code of conduct. The caretaker government is determined to and confident about complete implementation of law and maintaining complete impartiality. Clear instructions have been issued to the administration, police and law enforcement agencies for this purpose,” he said in a statement here yesterday. He said the caretaker government will come up to the expectations of the nation by discharging its obligations efficiently and in accordance with the given mandate.

He said a level playing field has been provided to the candidates of all the political parties as well as the independent contestants so that they can take part in the electoral process and voters can choose their candidates in a free and fair atmosphere. He said arrangements are being completed for peaceful elections besides ensuring implementation of code of conduct in the districts.

Provision of peaceful atmosphere to the voters for using their right of franchise is the basic responsibility of the government and every citizen will have to extend full cooperation to the government bodies, he added. He said that law and order will be fully upheld during the polling process and no one will be allowed to take law into own hands. He made it clear that supremacy of law would be ensured in case of any violation of electoral rules and regulations. He said that free and fair elections are the foremost condition of the sustainable democracy. Caretaker government is utilizing all possible resources for holding free, fair and transparent elections by fulfilling its responsibilities. He said that work is being done round-the-clock for making the electoral process transparent by adopting an effective monitoring system. He said that all constitutional measures would be adopted which are the foundations of peaceful and fair elections so that the people could get a chance to use their right of franchise in a free and fair atmosphere. Implementation on the devised mechanism will be ensured in all the circumstances to provide a peaceful atmosphere to the voters, concluded the Chief Minister.

Separately, on the instructions of Caretaker Chief Minister Dr Hassan Askari, implementation on austerity policy has been started in the Chief Minister’s Office. Under this policy, 151 officers and other staff deputed in this office have been sent back to their respective departments while the services of 113 other officers and staff taken on loan basis from different departments, have also been returned. The Spokesman said that services of overall 264 officers and officials have been handed over to their concerned departments. The spokesman said that only necessary officers and officials have been retained in Chief Minister’s Office for discharging the official affairs of the caretaker government.  Necessary staff will continue to serve in the Chief Minister’s Office, concluded the spokesman.