Gearing up for the most watchful elections
Officials at the Election Commission of Pakistan office in Karachi display and check electoral lists. — Dawn photo
ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should assure transparent elections in the country and for that access of national and international observers should be allowed through law.
Immediate action on complaints from far-flung areas should also be taken. Participation of women voters in elections must be assured.
This was identified as key areas of reform by prominent Pakistani and international organisations at a news conference held in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The organisations presenting the joint briefing paper “Key Reforms for General Elections in Pakistan” included Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Aurat Foundation (AF), Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCE), Free and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN) and Democracy Reporting International (DRI).
They emphasised that to achieve the reforms, parliament should immediately begin process of stakeholder consultation based on constitutional requirements and international law commitments.
In addition, the ECP should establish transparency mechanisms, including full access of observers to result in aggregation and immediate publication of all the polling station results.
Senior representative of HRCP Nasreen Azhar said that the electoral issues identified in the briefing paper require renewed focus and reform interventions before the next general elections.
DRI’s Country Director Vladimir Pran pointed out that “most of the recommendations in this paper are based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Pakistan in 2010”.
He explained that the reforms identified in this paper are in line with Pakistan’s international obligations for free, fair and transparent elections.
“Rules of ECP do not give any right to observers but they should have access to all phases of elections. Out of country voters should also get equal facilities to cast their votes,” he said.
FAFEN representative Rashid Chaudhry said that according to his organisation’s assessment, as many as 20 million people could not be included in voter lists and a number of addresses were wrong.
“We recommend that the ECP invests additional efforts in providing access of citizens to the registration,” he said.
CCE’s Executive Director, Zafarullah Khan stressed that adherence to the code of conduct, neutrality of state administration and reduced violence is crucial to ensuring free and fair elections.
He said that “measures are required to ensure all parties to publicly condemn violence, intimidation and coercion.”
Aurat Foundation’s representative Wasim Wagha emphasised that “there should be legislation to ensure a minimum level of women’s voter participation at polling stations and in constituencies and this should be implemented by the ECP”.
Reforms suggested by organisations were that ECP should establish a reliable mechanism for updating and maintaining the electoral roll.
Transparency mechanism and effective system for election dispute resolutions should be devised. Participation of women and out of country voters should be assured.
The only one thing that wll ensure free and fair is that the feudals and their cohorts must be kept at bay, particularly, in the country side. For this EC official have to be on-line vigilant in these areas.
I am a Pakistani living abroad and I love my beloved Pakistan. Either I can do something positive for it or I better keep my mouth shut, its that simple. I hate to hear all this rubbish from Pakistanis living abroad, who I call ‘Bhagoras’ including myself, and are not willing to do one bit for Pakistan. Pakistan has been very unlucky when it comes to politicians (not leaders) who have come to power and to add to that the overall changes internationally which specially has effected Pakistan the most. But all is not lost. Pakistan is a country where we have hope in the form of Imran Khan, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Ansar Burney etc etc etc.
We must change things … we must unite against Zaradaris, Sharifs etc … and we all know how.
Pakistan Zindabad!
I fully endorese the views expressed.
In addition to election reforms a national campaign should be organized to urge people to get themselves registered as voters and to vote independently without any influence or pressure. They should be reminded that when they mark the ballot paper no one sees them so no one knows who they actually voted for, so they vote without fear.
Women should be registered to vote. They are not the murderers. They are the ones being murdered.
We will see if the government will let people vote. Truth be told they are afraid of the animals, and the men are the more dangerous of the species.
When the young lose hope they start using heroin, and they do not tell anyone they are using. Not even their parents. For those in Karachi there’s no hope without dope.” In the South the animals are a different species than the Northern Gorillas, but just as dangerous.
Are you serious? This rambling makes no sense.
I don’t understand if the author is observing or suggesting that “international observers should be allowed through law”. If this is or becomes a legal requirement then we have to define “international observers”. Currently in our country “international” is a pseudonym for people of European races. We must ensure that these “internationals” are not from nations who have their horses in our election race.
Any foreigner in this country can visit a polling booth or election office in the capacity of an individual. The people of Pakistan have a right to know how the status of “observer” is conferred upon an “international” and what additional rights is he/she endowed with beyond what a citizen of Pakistan has.
I visited my relatives in haripur,in the ’70s,80′s and 90′s; I will not steep into Pakistan for the present;Pakistan is totally destroyed by Pakistanis;what a shame
Are you a Pakistani? I am assuming you are… So sitting abroad what have you done or plan to do to change the situation in Pakistan? It’s easier for us to sit abroad and say that Pakistan is destroyed by Pakistanis… i would say a few might have destroyed it…. but lets not generalize and lets do something positive for a change for the country you once lived in or were born in.
I think both has a point. I agree with Momtaz that this country has been destroyed by its own people, all the conspiracy theories we talk about everyday at tea stalls and bus stops are lame excuses to put our responsibilities on others shoulder. We dont even properly dispose off a wraper of chips or juice pack when we want to visit and enjoy the nature around or a neat and clean park full of nature…what else can you expect from this nation? ethnic and religious co-existence far too big issues to discuss here and suffocation is increasing day by day. However; i do agree, its no body’s responsibility but us and together with criticising we should also do our contributions in any way we can..as this country does not belong to the courrupt, extremists and feudals..but us..
i wonder, momtaz, wht r ur contribution for the good of pakistan?
No one is asking you to comeback, we dont need ppl who cannot do any constructive thing for Pakistan, and will just whine and complain while enjoying the life abroad
Very true Saad!