In a consultative meeting organized by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday, all mainstream political parties slammed the role of secret agencies in rigging elections and urged the commission to take steps to stop agencies’ interference in the next general election.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Fakhruudin G Ebrahim said: “For holding free and fair elections, the ECP has authority to summon all stake holders, including heads of secret agencies, and if required we will summons everyone,” he said. He said only transparent elections would be accepted in the country and responsibility of holding free and fair elections rested on the ECP and political parties.
The CEC said if required, two officials of the Pakistan Army would be deployed at every polling station to halt rigging and to control law and order. Earlier in the consultative meeting, attended by representatives of 15 political parties, JUI-F leader Attaur Rehman told participants that until and unless the ECP took steps to halt agencies role in elections, all other steps for holding free and fair election would be useless. “It’s our agencies that used to change results of elections…they used to steal elections… so if the ECP is serious in holding free and fair elections, it has to stop the agencies,” a source quoted Rehman as saying. He suggested the ECP to invite representatives of agencies as well for holding consultation as, according to him, bosses of secret agencies were the main stakeholders in the country’s electoral system.
Endorsing Rehman’s suggestions, Senator Hasil Khan Bizenjo of the National Party said people had no trust in the ECP, instead they believed it were the secret agencies that held power to elect candidates. He suggested that the ECP, instead of launching awareness campaign regarding how to cast votes and how to use ballet papers, should win the confidence of people by making then realize that the ECP was an independent body adamant to hold free and fair elections.
Sources said Nasir Ahmed Shewani of the Balochistan National Party was of the view almost all elections in the province were rigged as presiding officers always toed the line of powerful secret agencies.
They said almost all participants discussed the role of agencies in elections and gave suggestions for stopping their role. ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan suggested that to win the confidence of the people of Balochistan, the government should enhance National Assembly and provincial assembly seats.
He said NA seats should be increased from 14 to 30. He said there were 30 districts in Balochistan and every district should be given one seat in the National Assembly. On this, representatives of political parties told the ECP that they would fully support the suggestion, but instead of districts, seats should be given on population basis. It was agreed that ECP and political parties would work on this suggestion. In addition, ECP officials said under the National Judicial Policy 2009, the judiciary could not give its judicial officers to the ECP for holding elections. On this, the participants asked the ECP to write to the Supreme Court requesting it to appoint judicial officers. They also assured the ECP that they would raise the issue in parliament and the Supreme Court would be requested to appoint judicial officers at least for the next general election.
According to the Judicial Policy 2009, judicial officers cannot perform election duties.
The sources said political parties opposed newly drafted bill of ECP in which it suggested re-polling at polling stations where less than 10 percent women votes were polled.
The participants of the view that it was not practically possible for the ECP to get more than 10 percent polling by women, as in many constituencies, particularly in Balochistan, women always showed reluctance to cast their votes.
The representatives of political parties asked the ECP to replace the bill with a new one in which strict action should be suggested against those who barred women from casting their votes.
The sources said PML-N’s Anosha Rehman suggested that the vote number of voters should be placed on their national identity cards.
The participants agreed to this suggestion and vowed to work on it. It was agreed that in the next general election, overseas Pakistanis would not be allowed to cast their votes.
ECP officials told the participants that on October 17, the ECP will observe voters day. The political parties appreciated the step and assured their full support.