EC simplifies process of leaving political parties

Elections Commission (EC) today announced a simplified process of requesting the commission to be removed from the registration of political parties.

The commission's ninth amendment to the regulations of political parties requires a member to be removed from a party within 14 days of submitting the request. If this is not implemented, the individual would be removed from the registry after claiming a dispute with the EC.

According to the regulations, a special form must be submitted to the EC for expulsion from the party.

The next amendment to the Political Parties Rules addresses the issue of default re-registration for members who leave a party without notice and join another party. Under the new rule, such members will be immediately expelled from the party they newly joined and automatically re-registered with the party they left without notice.

However, the regulation previously said that should an individual be registered to a party without their knowledge, and a complaint is filed regarding this, and should the complaint be considered accurate, then only would the member be removed from the party's registration.

While such cases are common, Elections Commission pressed charges against an individual regarding such a case for the first time.