No legal cover for 2008 polls

Amidst open criticism from certain quarters over the Supreme Court decision of staying the upcoming by-elections on existing electoral rolls, which contain bogus voters, and the possibility of moving an application in the court to get the 2008 general elections declared null and void on the same basis, the government has ignored giving legal cover to the 2008 general elections and found a remedy for the it in the 20th Amendment to the Constitution Bill, which it introduced in parliament to validate the status of 28 parliamentarians elected through by-elections when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was incomplete. On January 19, the apex court, on petitions moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s slain former chairwoman Benazir Bhutto, issued a stay order against the upcoming by-elections as it maintained that the existing electoral rolls contained bogus votes. It asked the ECP to prepare verified voter lists first and then hold the elections in the respective constituencies. The ruling immediately affected by-elections scheduled in eight constituencies: five National Assembly (NA-9 Mardan-I, NA-140 Kasur-III, NA-148, Multan-I, NA-149 Multan-II and NA-195 Rahimyar Khan-IV); two Punjab Assembly seats (PP-18 Attock-IV and PP-44 Mianwali-II) and one Sindh Assembly seat (PS-57 Badin-I). However, the court accepted the plea of National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice Chairperson Naseem Chaudhry to give time for the validation of the status of 28 parliamentarians, who were elected through by-elections when the ECP was incomplete under the provisions of the 18th Amendment. During the hearing, the court was told that the bill for the 20th Amendment to the constitution was moved in parliament, therefore time may be granted to validate the by-polls held so far. The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) said in a press release on Friday that the Supreme Court ruled that by-elections could not be held on the vacant seats in the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies because the electoral roll was “bogus” and “unverified”. However, it added, the same voter lists were used in the 2008 general elections to elect all other members of the assemblies.
FAFEN believed that such rulings from the Supreme Court did not augur well for the independence of the ECP, especially in an election year. It said until the new electoral roll was finalised, the current rolls could not and should not be suspended by the Supreme Court, as was clear from the statutes governing the electoral rolls.
As the government moved the 20th Amendment bill in the National Assembly to give legal cover to the election of the 28 parliamentarians, questions on the legality of the 2008 general elections will continue to be raised. But the government did not choose to ‘legalise’ the 2008 general elections in the 20th Amendment.
When asked about the legality of the 2008 general elections in the light of the apex court decision, Justice (r) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui said that during the proceedings, no one raised questions on the legality of the 2008 general elections, nor did the SC pass any order in this regard. However, he cautioned that somebody could approach the SC to get the general elections declared null and void as they were also held on the bogus voter lists.