Elections on time?

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Not a bad idea

While political parties argue about the timing of the elections some of the most basic measures needed for holding fair and transparent polls are yet to be put in place. Topmost among these is the preparation of error-free electoral rolls. On PTI chief Imran Khan’s petition against 27 million fake voters, the Supreme Court had ordered an urgent revision of the electoral lists. Despite constant goading by the CJ, the task was not finished by February 23 as promised by the ECP. The issue has been complicated by the decision to give the right of vote to about 8 million expatriates Pakistanis. The opposition’s demand regarding an independent commission has been accepted by the government but an agreement has yet to be reached on a new CEC as the incumbent’s non-extendable three year tenure ends on March 16. There is still no consensus on an independent interim setup which is equally important as it is to oversee the polls.

Under the circumstances, it might not be a bad idea to hold the elections early next year when the present government has completed its full tenure. This would allow the contesting parties to complete their much needed homework. The parties have yet to gear up their electoral machinery at the federal, provincial and constituency levels. The parties also need to prepare well thought out and realistic election manifestos outlining their policies to enable the voters make a choice. They have to interview hundreds of aspirants for party tickets before the can finalise the teams that they intend to field in the elections.

The opposition parties which were agitating for early elections at the end of the last year and had threatened to issue calls for strikes and long marches finally realised that the agitation would harm the system. This brought an end to soapbox oratory, restored normalcy and allowed mutual consultation that made the timely holding of the Senate elections possible. This was indicative of a modicum of maturity in the political leadership. One hopes the government would accommodate the opposition’s viewpoint while finalising with it the interim setup and the opposition would drop its unrealistic refrain of early elections.