ISLAMABAD  -  The Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued a set of guidelines to caretaker govern­ments in the Centre and provinces seek­ing their assistance to hold upcoming gener­al elections as the law.

The current caretak­er governments have also been asked not to post or transfer any public official after the issuance of this notification under the federal and provincial governments without the commission’s prior approval.

The notification states that the ECP is “mandated with the constitution­al duty to organise and conduct elec­tions in terms of Article 218(3) of the Constitution and to make such ar­rangements as are necessary to en­sure that the elections are conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accor­dance with the law and that corrupt practices are guarded against”.

The ECP instructed the interim gov­ernments to ensure compliance with all notifications, directives and provi­sions of Section - 230 of the election law, which pertains to the functions of a caretaker government. The noti­fication further says that all develop­ment funds relating to local govern­ment institutions in provinces and cantonment boards for new schemes throughout the country shall stand frozen after the announcement of the election schedule with immediate ef­fect and their status would remain unchanged until the announcement of election results.