The issue of fake degrees and the allegations of fraud and rigging in some of the recently held by-elections have brought into question the manner in which the concept of democracy is being practiced in Pakistan. The idea of credibility of the election process becomes all the more important in a country which is still struggling to strengthen its institutions and its credentials as a democratic state.
But the fact of the matter isthe role of election authorities in Pakistan in ensuring that level of reliability has been far from satisfactory, observed Javed Jabbar, former senator and federal minister for information, at a recently-held briefing on proposals for Electoral Reforms in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
The Election Commission needs to realise the importance of its role a role that it is required as well as expected to play in a democratic setup, added Jabbar.
While Pildat and the Citizens Group on Electoral Process (CGEP), of which Jabbar is a member, discussed the various recommendations that can be put to good use by the time the next general elections are held in Pakistan, the question that kept on springing up among the participants at the symposium was whether the state machinery had finally acquired the will to correct the wrongs within the system?
The subject of fake degrees is perhaps the most palpable manifestation of the imperfection in the current process of scrutiny of the nomination papers scrutiny which is to be conducted by the commissions returning officer. This issue is therefore directly related to electoral reforms and to vigilance that is necessary on part of both the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as well as the political parties selecting candidates to contest elections from their platforms, said Pildats Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob.
However, this has been but one issue with regard to elections that hit the headlines of more recently and led to a near brawl between legislators and journalists. Moreover, allegations of rigging and use of state resources in order to support candidates in by-polls as well as the current crisis of the validity of the lately held by-elections are equally important issues that need to be aptly and swiftly addressed.
At least seven by-elections are open to legal challenge on the position that the ECP, in its current composition, is unconstitutional. Under the 18th Amendment, the process of supervising and holding elections is not the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), but of the Election Commission which comprises the CEC and four members. The short-of-four-members ECP is reportedly in its current, incomplete state due to the disagreement between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, over the selection of names for the commissions members.
The commission, apart from its proper constitution, needs to ensure that its staffers operate according to a devised electoral code of conduct and that violators are penalised. While there have already been allegations against the conduct of the commissions workers during various elections, a recent case in point is that of the PP-160 by-polls. Five ECP officials were arrested in June 2010 on the charges of establishing a fake commission office and preparing bogus election material to help a certain candidate win the by-elections in the said constituency. And although the officials were reportedly suspended by the competent authority and disciplinary proceedings had been started against them, there was no word on what happened later on. Such instances, as Mehboob pointed out, only go to show that without the proper vigilance, transparency and adequate penalty for violating the commissions standards, the code of conduct will remain an ineffectual, toothless document.
The other and very difficult challenge that the ECP faces and that it intends to fix as part of its five year strategic plan is that of faulty electoral rolls, as without accurate, complete, up-to-date and credible voters list or electoral rolls, it would be impossible to imagine conducting free, fair and credible election. The commission intends to finish this process of revision by December 2010 and is collaborating with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for the purpose.
Nadra is especially useful at this point as nearly 90 per cent of NIC holders now have computerised identity cards, Mehboob told the symposium.
Also among the CGEP recommendations is one that discusses the appointment of the CEC and suggests that the chief commissioner should not be restricted to the members of the judiciary. The citizens group also suggested that the CEC should not be a retired judge who is appointed as election commissioner directly after retirement. The commissioner should not be in a vulnerable positionhe must not get the impression that he is being done a favour, former bureaucrat Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said.
Another recommendation suggested by CGEP member and former Federal Minister for Interior Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider was that of holding elections within the political parties. Haider said it would be impossible for democracy to take shape without intra-party elections. Political parties are also going to strengthen through such measures, he added. While this particular recommendation is crucial for preventing dictatorships within political parties from flourishing, after the passage of the 18th Amendment, elections within the parties are no longer mandatory.
Among other recommendations was increasing the numbers of election tribunals and the appointment of judges exclusively for these tribunals. Another suggestion was that of the introduction of the electronic voting machines to introduce accuracy and efficiency in the vote counting procedure. Other than that, increase in the number of polling stations, establishment of permanent polling stations wherever possible and public access to disclosure and declaration of election candidates are some of the reforms proposed by the citizens group.
However, what is certainly more important along with the passage of reforms is a sovereign and proactive Election Commission, the speakers opined. The commission is in many ways a custodian of democracy, and cannot afford to be subservient to the government. As one speaker pointed out, the commission should be prepared to take notice of lapses and omissions on part of the government and other authoritiesOnly then can we hope to achieve some level of credibility in the election process and expect the people of Pakistan to have some faith in the democratic system.
By Qurat ul ain Siddiqui
http://blog.dawn.com/2010/08/11/need-for-electoral-reforms-in-pakistan/
But the fact of the matter isthe role of election authorities in Pakistan in ensuring that level of reliability has been far from satisfactory, observed Javed Jabbar, former senator and federal minister for information, at a recently-held briefing on proposals for Electoral Reforms in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
The Election Commission needs to realise the importance of its role a role that it is required as well as expected to play in a democratic setup, added Jabbar.
While Pildat and the Citizens Group on Electoral Process (CGEP), of which Jabbar is a member, discussed the various recommendations that can be put to good use by the time the next general elections are held in Pakistan, the question that kept on springing up among the participants at the symposium was whether the state machinery had finally acquired the will to correct the wrongs within the system?
The subject of fake degrees is perhaps the most palpable manifestation of the imperfection in the current process of scrutiny of the nomination papers scrutiny which is to be conducted by the commissions returning officer. This issue is therefore directly related to electoral reforms and to vigilance that is necessary on part of both the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as well as the political parties selecting candidates to contest elections from their platforms, said Pildats Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob.
However, this has been but one issue with regard to elections that hit the headlines of more recently and led to a near brawl between legislators and journalists. Moreover, allegations of rigging and use of state resources in order to support candidates in by-polls as well as the current crisis of the validity of the lately held by-elections are equally important issues that need to be aptly and swiftly addressed.
At least seven by-elections are open to legal challenge on the position that the ECP, in its current composition, is unconstitutional. Under the 18th Amendment, the process of supervising and holding elections is not the responsibility of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), but of the Election Commission which comprises the CEC and four members. The short-of-four-members ECP is reportedly in its current, incomplete state due to the disagreement between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, over the selection of names for the commissions members.
The commission, apart from its proper constitution, needs to ensure that its staffers operate according to a devised electoral code of conduct and that violators are penalised. While there have already been allegations against the conduct of the commissions workers during various elections, a recent case in point is that of the PP-160 by-polls. Five ECP officials were arrested in June 2010 on the charges of establishing a fake commission office and preparing bogus election material to help a certain candidate win the by-elections in the said constituency. And although the officials were reportedly suspended by the competent authority and disciplinary proceedings had been started against them, there was no word on what happened later on. Such instances, as Mehboob pointed out, only go to show that without the proper vigilance, transparency and adequate penalty for violating the commissions standards, the code of conduct will remain an ineffectual, toothless document.
The other and very difficult challenge that the ECP faces and that it intends to fix as part of its five year strategic plan is that of faulty electoral rolls, as without accurate, complete, up-to-date and credible voters list or electoral rolls, it would be impossible to imagine conducting free, fair and credible election. The commission intends to finish this process of revision by December 2010 and is collaborating with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for the purpose.
Nadra is especially useful at this point as nearly 90 per cent of NIC holders now have computerised identity cards, Mehboob told the symposium.
Also among the CGEP recommendations is one that discusses the appointment of the CEC and suggests that the chief commissioner should not be restricted to the members of the judiciary. The citizens group also suggested that the CEC should not be a retired judge who is appointed as election commissioner directly after retirement. The commissioner should not be in a vulnerable positionhe must not get the impression that he is being done a favour, former bureaucrat Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said.
Another recommendation suggested by CGEP member and former Federal Minister for Interior Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider was that of holding elections within the political parties. Haider said it would be impossible for democracy to take shape without intra-party elections. Political parties are also going to strengthen through such measures, he added. While this particular recommendation is crucial for preventing dictatorships within political parties from flourishing, after the passage of the 18th Amendment, elections within the parties are no longer mandatory.
Among other recommendations was increasing the numbers of election tribunals and the appointment of judges exclusively for these tribunals. Another suggestion was that of the introduction of the electronic voting machines to introduce accuracy and efficiency in the vote counting procedure. Other than that, increase in the number of polling stations, establishment of permanent polling stations wherever possible and public access to disclosure and declaration of election candidates are some of the reforms proposed by the citizens group.
However, what is certainly more important along with the passage of reforms is a sovereign and proactive Election Commission, the speakers opined. The commission is in many ways a custodian of democracy, and cannot afford to be subservient to the government. As one speaker pointed out, the commission should be prepared to take notice of lapses and omissions on part of the government and other authoritiesOnly then can we hope to achieve some level of credibility in the election process and expect the people of Pakistan to have some faith in the democratic system.
By Qurat ul ain Siddiqui
http://blog.dawn.com/2010/08/11/need-for-electoral-reforms-in-pakistan/
