19 members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa interim cabinet resign after Pakistan Election Commission's instructions

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 11 (ANI): Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's interim Information Minister, Feroze Jamal on Thursday said that 19 members of the caretaker cabinet, including him have tendered their resignations to province's interim Chief Minister Azam Khan as per the instructions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan-based Dawn reported. 
In July, the ECP had asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister to immediately fire his ministers, advisers and special assistants “involved in politics” to ensure free and fair electoral exercise in the province.
The electoral body issued the directions after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur wrote a letter which had the sign of 52 ex-MPAs to the ECP seeking a level-playing field for all political parties in the upcoming general elections, according to Dawn.  
Speaking to Dawn, Feroze Jamal said, "The CM told us the election commission has made it clear that he needed to constitute a new non-political interim cabinet as all of its current members had political associations." Jamal added that 19 of them had tendered their resignation and the rest could not as they were out of Peshawar.
He said, "Those who are out of the city are returning [to submit their resignations]. But in case they are unable to resign for any reason, they would be de-notified tomorrow." Jamal further said that it was "too early to say when the resignations will be accepted."
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is having a caretaker government since January after the provincial cabinet was dissolved as PTI chairman Imran Khan had committed to dissociate himself from the “current corrupt political system” by quitting the assemblies where his party was in power, as per the Dawn report. 
Earlier in July, 52 former Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) from the PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter approached the ECP seeking a level-playing field for all political parties in the upcoming polls. All 52 lawmakers were signatories on a letter written by Ali Amin Khan Gandapur to the electoral body. 
The letter written by PTI lawmakers said that "admission along with the blatant interference and alleged corruption by the office of the governor" was made by the ANP, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) representatives during talk shows on news channels.
In the letter, the lawmakers alleged that the caretaker ministers openly campaigned against the PTI comprising the level-playing field necessary in the interim setup for it to have the credibility to hold free and fair elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported. In response, the ECP wrote a letter to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker Chief Minister, asking him to sack those members of the cabinet who were involved in politics. 
The letter written by the ECP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa interim CM reads, "The ECP has desired to request you while keeping the interim cabinet members at minimum to review the appointments [in light of the criteria as laid down in the election laws] and to de-notify such ministers, advisers and special assistants involved in politics immediately so that free, fair and transparent elections are ensured for future." 
The ECP said it was bound by Article 218 (3) of the Constitution to organise and hold elections in a free, fair, transparent and impartial manner. It further said that the caretaker government had a special role to play in helping it ensure that a level-playing field is provided to all stakeholders, including contesting candidates of political parties, to allow them to exercise their capacities for the good of voters without fear or favour and without let or hindrance of any sort.
It further said that the caretaker government, including cabinet members, advisers, special assistants and other relevant functionaries, could only provide an “objective environment” without engaging in politics and election campaigns in violation of provisions of Section 230 (1)(d) and 2(g) of the Elections Act, 2017, the report said. 
The ECP expressed regret that it had come to its notice through media and other sources that some ministers, advisors and special assistants in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's caretaker cabinet were appointed based on political affiliations. The electoral body said that the government should give top priority to the matter. (ANI)