The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced that it will begin long due administrative realignment in the wake of the judicial commission’s report pointing out various flaws in the May 2013 general elections.
“ECP will undergo an administrative reshuffle in which every officer will do a specific job rather than every officer performing every job. There is a need of specialisation in the organisation,” the ECP said in a statement following a meeting of the commission on Tuesday.
The announcement comes a day after an ECP spokesperson had ruled out resignation of any of their four members, as demanded by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.
The ECP noted that “considering the weaknesses and shortcomings as pointed out in the final report of the inquiry commission on general elections 2013 in respect of the ECP, a general outline of required administrative response was presented before the Election Commission in a discussion on July 27, 2015.”
Among the immediate measures outlined by the ECP, its Director General Elections Sher Afgan will start work as additional secretary –training, and prepare a foolproof training programme for the 2018 general elections. Fida Muhammad will work as additional secretary — administration, and look after the affairs of budget, administration and elections wings. The ECP further said that a planning committee will prepare a work plan for the next general elections in terms of human and financial resources, in addition to finalising electoral reforms and a logistic plan. It said a national coordination committee will meet every month in Islamabad and four provincial headquarters regularly to keep the commission updated.
