ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: In a significant move, 10 major political parties have jointly submitted their proposals to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) suggesting steps needed to ensure holding of fair, transparent and accessible party-based general election in the tribal areas for the first time in the country’s history.

A letter containing five recommendations has been sent to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan by the hitherto unknown Political Parties Joint Committee on Fata Reforms or Fata Committee. It comprises members from both government and opposition parties.

The letter, delivered to the ECP on Tuesday, carries signatures of representatives of the PPP, PML-N, PML-Q, MQM, ANP, JUI-F, JI, National Party, Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party and Qaumi Watan Party.

Talking to Dawn, a member of the committee and senior vice-president of the PML-Q, Ajmal Khan Wazir, said political parties had highlighted their concerns requiring immediate action by the ECP.

Mr Wazir, who himself is aspiring for a National Assembly seat from South Waziristan, said the committee had been formed some two years ago, but its members managed to finalise recommendations as recently as last month at a meeting facilitated by the National Democratic Institute, a US think tank, in Islamabad.

He said the committee was formed to develop a consensus on electoral reforms and amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation and extension of the Political Parties Order to Fata.

The committee recommended that “a targeted campaign should be launched immediately to provide Fata citizens with computerised national identity cards (CNICs) and to register them as voters with the ECP”.

The campaign, it says, should place special emphasis on women throughout Fata and on internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps in Fata and in adjacent districts.

The ECP and Nadra have been asked to communicate schedules of deployment of additional registration efforts directly to the leadership of political parties and work together closely and as quickly as possible to ensure that all those receiving new CNICs are also registered to vote.

The committee fears that over 150,000 IDPs are facing disenfranchisement in the coming general election if they are not allowed to cast votes through special measures.

“International law is clear about the voting rights of IDPs and to ensure equal access to democratic participation, all IDPs from Fata should be provided with the opportunity to vote. Specifically, all citizens residing in camps should be permitted to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice in their home constituency in Fata,” it says.

“Due to the security situation, many IDPs are prohibited from returning home and these voters should be provided with an alternative mechanism for voting in home constituency elections even while living currently in an IDP camp elsewhere.

“At a minimum, absentee voting should be facilitated for Fata IDPs living outside their normal constituencies in the camps and host communities at Togh Serai camp, New Durrani camp, Jalozai camp, D.I. Khan, Hangu, Kohat, Kurram, Peshawar and Tank.”

The letter recalls that Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. These charters obligate the state to give the internally displaced the right and opportunity to cast their vote whether they are living in camps or elsewhere.

The committee has urged the government to ensure that judicial officers from neighbouring settled districts should be appointed as returning officers and district returning officers as per a decision taken by the National Judicial Policy Making Committee in November.

“To ensure equitable election administration throughout Pakistan, this decision should also apply to Fata. As there are no judicial officers in Fata, officers from adjacent districts (Lower Dir, Malakand, Charsadda, Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, and D.I. Khan) should be sent to Fata to serve as election officials,” recommends the committee.

The committee has requested the ECP to ensure that polling stations are established within two kilometres of voters’ homes in line with a decision of the Supreme Court of June 8 last year.

The committee asked the ECP to maintain close coordination with political leaders at the Fata agency level as “it will allow the identification and mitigation of other local election problems as they arise”.

The copies of the letter have been sent to President Asif Ali Zardari, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar and Nadra chairman Tariq Malik.