- ECP decides to amend electoral laws, sends draft of amendments to Electoral Reforms Committee
- Matters of election petitions, verification of thumb impression referred to CJP
Disowning the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) review report published on its official website on Monday, an ECP spokesperson has said that the report has not been prepared by the institution and “actually comprises recommendations and suggestions given by the national and international observers regarding General Election 2013”.
According to the ECP spokesperson, “ECP is preparing a fact sheet regarding the role played by Returning Officers (ROs) in the General Elections 2013,” and the fact sheet will be presented before a Parliamentary committee on September 29. He added that facts regarding printing of the ballot papers and magnetic ink will also be shared in the fact sheet.
The review report published on the commission’s website admits gross discrepancies in last year’s elections. It states that every RO implemented Article 62, 63 of the Constitution according to his understanding and that ECP did not direct the ROs regarding proper scrutiny of the papers. According to the report, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) did not share the candidates’ details and several candidates were cleared without proper scrutiny of their nomination papers. Due to printing delays, several polling stations received ballots late, the report adds.
According to the report the Result Management System (RMS) set up with the help of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) proved a complete failure and ROs sent hand-written results to ECP due to errors in Form 16. Extension in polling time also created confusion, the report adds.
Though ECP has disowned the report– which bears the names of ECP team-members and its logo –it is still present on ECP’s official website.
ECP DECIDES TO AMEND ELECTORAL LAWS:
In the meanwhile, ECP has decided to amend electoral laws in the country and has sent a draft of the amendments to the Electoral Reforms Committee (ERC).
According to media reports, the president will no longer be eligible to announce the election date. The draft suggests that election date be announced in consultation with ECP.
ROs will work under ECP and votes cannot be transferred 90 days prior to the polling date, polling scheme will not be changed one month prior to the election while an increase in election expenses has also been recommended.
The draft also suggests increasing the days allotted for scrutiny of candidates from seven to 15.
ELECTION PETITIONS REFERRED TO CJP:
In the meanwhile, Supreme Court (SC) has referred the matter of election petitions and verification of thumb impressions to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for formation of a separate bench to hear these cases together.
A three-member SC bench presided by Justice Saqib Nisar took up the petitions for hearing Tuesday.
During the course of hearing of Ibrahim Jatoi versus Aftab Shoban Meerani case, Justice Nisar remarked, “Verification of thumb impression has become a national issue. We want that both the matters of election petitions and verification of thumb impression be heard together. Therefore, we are sending this matter to CJP.”
Election petitions of Raja Amir Zaman versus Omar Ayub, Amir Haider Hoti versus Nasir Khan and Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan were fixed for hearing.
The court clubbed these all cases and referred them to the CJP and directed the SC registrar to request the CJP to constitute a separate bench to hear these cases together.
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