PILDAT’s Citizens Group on Electoral Process unveiled the Unfinished Agenda on Electoral Reforms and presented it to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim on Tuesday.
The group also shared the reform proposals at the Citizens Forum on Electoral Reforms. NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik also spoke on the occasion. The Citizens Group on Electoral Process met earlier on Tuesday to finalise what it called the Unfinished Agenda of Electoral Reforms.
Group members who joined the meeting and the forum included Gallup Chairman Dr Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Lt Gen (r) Moinuddin Haider, Shahid Hamid, Balochistan Times Editor-in-Chief Senator Fasih Iqbal, Justice (r) Nasira Iqbal, Javed Jabbar, Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami, Ghazi Salahuddin, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob and Aasiya Riaz.
The group also welcomed the announcement of the Final Electoral Rolls by the ECP. Addressing the forum, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said the elected political government, parliament and the Election Commission of Pakistan had covered a lot of ground in instituting significant electoral reforms in three years, such as providing for full-time members of the Election Commission, bi-partisan process to appoint members of the election commission and chief election commissioner, Making CNIC mandatory for registration as a voter and for casting the vote, preparation of Computerized Electoral Rolls with voters’ pictures, initiating the mechanism of constituency monitors, instituting a more elaborate system of monitoring election expenses and providing for a neutral care-taker government through a bi-partisan process.
NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik said it was a moment of pride for Pakistan that a computerized electoral roll, based on the citizenship records of NADRA, had been prepared and 99 percent of CNIC holders were part of the Final Electoral Rolls (FERs).
Awan: Senator Babar Awan said elections within a political party were a key requirement of democracy that was often ignored. He also appreciated the 20th amendment to the constitution. Participants also raised questions about the process of recording of birth and deaths and how it affected the list. MNA Tasneem Siddiqi said there were some areas where men decided whether women would vote or not. “The ECP may consider declaring a poll null and void if 20 percent to 30 percent women votes were not cast in a constituency,” she said.