- Ahead of Senate polls, documents suggest that Acting ECP Secretary Sher Afgan flouted Electoral Rolls Act 1974 to transfer PML-N candidates’ votes to other provinces
Rather than functioning as a neutral and independent institution to ensure the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections in the country, some elements in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are reportedly involved in dubious activities, giving credence to the hue and cry made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) about “massive vote fraud” in the General Election 2013.
Documents available with Pakistan Today suggest that in violation of election rules, Acting ECP Secretary Sher Afgan secretively issued a notification, well after the announcement of schedule for Senate elections, directing ECP’s provincial headquarters to enrol new voters, enabling at least four top candidates from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to get their votes transferred from their native areas to Punjab and the federal capital in a record time– one day. The beneficiaries include PML-N candidates Salim Zia, Nehal Hashmi, Rahila Magsi and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra.
The votes of Zia and Hashmi were transferred from Karachi to Punjab while the vote of Magsi was transferred from Sindh to Islamabad. Similarly, Jhagra also got his vote transferred from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad.
NOT AFGAN’S FIRST TIME:
Sher Afgan, previously the ECP additional secretary, was the man PTI chief Imran Khan believed was the “architect” of rigging the 2013 elections in favour of PML-N. Before taking out PTI’s long march on August 13 last year from Lahore, Khan had termed Afgan as an “ECP villain” who played a key role in rigging the polls. However, Khan never submitted evidence to prove his claims.
During scrutiny of papers, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s candidate for women seat from Islamabad, Nargis Faiz Malik, had objected to Afgan’s conduct who is the Returning Officer (RO) for the federal capital. Malik had alleged that Afgan congratulated both Jhagra and Magsi for their nomination by the prime minister, prompting a heated argument.
The PPP candidate had alleged that Afgan was praising the ruling party candidates which proved his biased attitude. Later, she challenged the case in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as all her allegations were overruled by Afgan. She also had objected to the presence of five PML-N lawmakers on the occasion of the scrutiny, stating that the ruling party was taking the ECP officials “hostage”.
RULES DON’T ALLOW:
Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 bars any change in the electoral rolls, either registration of fresh voter or transfer of votes, once the election schedule is announced.
The rule reads, “No revision or correction of any electoral roll for an electoral area shall be made nor shall any order under Section 19 be made in respect of any electoral roll at any time after the constituency of which such electoral area forms part has been called upon to elect its representative and before such representative has been elected.”
Though Section 19 of the Act allows the chief election commissioner (CEC) to permit changes in the electoral rolls after schedule is issued and voters list is frozen, these powers are limited in cases where there is any gross error or irregularity in the electoral rolls for any electoral area or part of it.
On Monday, January 19, the ECP had announced schedule for election of 52 Senate seats. Under the law, no change in electoral rolls could be made once the schedule was announced.
AFGAN ‘ACCOMMODATES PML-N:
However, in a glaring violation of the law, Afgan on February 10, almost 20 days after the election schedule was announced, got issued letter No F 3(2)/2014-Cord with a title “Immediate By UMS/Fax”, conveying to the ROs and CECs of all the four provinces that the approval had been obtained from the “competent authority” under which the “provisions of Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act, 1974 are not applicable to election programme issued by ECP”. The letter also directed the authorities to “proceed in the matter (registration/transfer of votes) under intimation to the commission”.
Neither the approval for vote transfer/registration was made available at the ECP’s website nor it was released to the media.
The very next day, February 11, the PML-N dropped a bombshell for its leaders of Punjab and federal capital by announcing its candidates for the Senate election, as the press release carried the names of the four party activists who were strangers for their electorate.
Salim Zia’s vote is registered in NA-250 Karachi from where he also contested General Election 2013 as an independent candidate and bagged 658 votes. Similarly, Nehal Hashmi had contested 2013 polls from NA-251, Jhagra is a resident of Jhagra village in KP while Rahila Magsi’s vote is registered in Tando Allahyar, Sindh.
A source in the ECP told Pakistan Today that both Magsi and Jhagra not only are non-residents of Islamabad but they were also not-registered as voters in the capital city.
“However, Sher Afgan had this happen through the secret communiqué which he had got issued on the orders of the close aides of prime minister as he wanted to get himself confirmed as ECP’s permanent secretary,” the source said, adding that during his stint as acting secretary, he had also appointed Akram Shaikh as ECP’s legal adviser by virtue of him being “prime minister’s blue-eyed”. “Hefty amounts are being paid to Akram Shaikh on direction of Sher Afgan,” the source claimed.
Pakistan Today made repeated attempts to contact Sher Afgan but his phone remained inaccessible.
What a good story to unmask the real culprit behind the poll rigging of 2013. Such corrupt scum should be hanged who steal the mandate of the people at large. Shame
According to the report, section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 provides that once the elections schedule has been announced, no change in the electoral rolls can be made either through registration of fresh voters or by transfer of votes. However, the Chief Election Commissioner is still authorized to permit changes after the voters list is frozen, but can do so only to correct any gross error or irregularity in the electoral rolls.
In view of the above, the transfer of votes of Salim Zia and Nehal Hashmi from Karachi to Punjab, that of Rahila Magsi from Sindh to Islamabad, and of Iqbal Zafar Jhagra from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad, after the election schedule had been announced, are nothing but a blatant violation of the prescribed rules.
And these violations of the rules is reported to have been done by none other than an ECP Secretary. And surprisingly he had the courage to do this even when so many people are obviously closely watching the process: perhaps he has been fully assured that he could do it all and get away with it.
With the same official having worked previously as the ECP additional secretary during 2013 general elections, one can't be blamed for thinking that perhaps all was not well even with those elections, which is putting it as mildly as possible. And it is not difficult to imagine on whose instructions, and for whose benefit, he would have done all this.
Unfortunately, we have failed to develop as a nation and are just a collection of various groups divided on ethnicity and other basis. Because of this, despite being over 200 million strong, we are not a force to reckon with and our political leaders in power do not see much problem taking us for a ride.
Spending his own money, and prepared to face various hardships despite his health condition, Dr Tahirul Qadri stood up for our rights but we did not lend him the support that he deserved. And Imran Khan's movement, after making a spectacular start, also seems to have become a bit dormant at present. This lack of an effective challenge from the masses and his growing rapport with the army chief seems to have turned a previously shaky, besieged and vulnerable Nawaz Sharif into an over-confident one, who sees no threat from any quarter, and feels he can do whatever he likes and get away with it. And sweeping under the carpet of unwarranted killing of fourteen innocent persons, including women, and wounding of eighty others through straight shooting in Model Town by Punjab Police is a manifestation of newly-gained confidence of Nawaz Sharif. With Punjab Police acting more like a militant wing of PML-N, and army chief also seen by his side often, creating an impression of his invincibility, we could expect to see Nawaz Sharif acting more like a dictator, for the benefit of self, family, friends and associates, with perhaps no one around to challenge him effectively. What a shame.
Karachi
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