ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan continued with his attack on officials of the Election Commission and returning officers who he said had failed to discharge their duty before and during May 2013 general elections.

In a six-page letter delivered to the chief election commissioner (CEC) on Thursday, the PTI chief argued that based on the findings of the three-judge poll inquiry commission the onus was on the ECP’s head to take necessary action.

He also called for disciplinary action against the ECP officials and sought a response from CEC retired Justice Sardar Raza Khan on various issues highlighted in the inquiry commission’s report, especially the ECP’s shortcomings and lapses during the last elections.

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Mr Khan said the commission’s report contained numerous findings of serious, systemic and pervasive failures and breaches by the ECP in organising and conducting the elections.

“The commission found that the ECP did not seem to have any way of knowing how things were progressing on the ground either prior to the election or during the election. There was no monitoring wing in the ECP. There seemed to be no way for the ECP to know whether or not its directions were being implemented.

“The provincial election commissioners (PECs) did not seem to report matters to the ECP during the polling day and that the ECP had no effective system to monitor whether or not its directives were being implemented on the ground even to the extent of the number of ballots required by the action plan,” the PTI chief said, referring to the commission’s report.

He said the commission had also found that the chain of command –PECs, returning officers (ROs) and presiding officers (POs) – appeared largely ineffective and very little information seemed to filter to the ECP which was in fact the instructing body and had ultimate responsibility for the organisation and conduct of the 2013 elections under Article 218 (3) of the Constitution, whereas others were only implementers.

“In fact, according to the evidence before the commission, the ECP failed to ensure that the action plan and the instructions therein were duly communicated to all the officials concerned. The commission held that the ECP failed to ensure that these key instructions were implemented,” he said.

Mr Khan also referred in his letter to the paragraphs of the report in which the commission had expressed its concerns regarding safety of the election material, printing of ballot papers and how the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the ECP failed to develop an ink which could verify the exact identity of the vote and the commission duly noted down that it was a matter of concern which needed to be addressed.

The PTI chief also drew the CEC’s attention to the report’s observation that woefully inadequate training was provided to the poll officials from top to bottom.

“The PTI recognises that the report relates to a period prior to the date of assumption of the office of the chief election commissioner by you. However, the PTI is hopeful that you will agree and accept that the scale, magnitude and pervasiveness of the proved and established failures, breaches and illegalities by the ECP (which includes its then members, secretary, additional secretaries, directors general, PECs, DECs and all other officials and staff as well as the officials acting as ROs and POs during the 2013 general elections) is undeniably grave and that there is an urgent requirement to examine, address, rectify and cure each and every one of the matter identified by the commission.”

Mr Khan also sought CEC’s written response to the measures the ECP intended to undertake in the light of the commission’s report, particularly disciplinary and other legal proceedings, including, but not limited to, initiation of criminal proceedings for commission of the offence under Section 91 of the Representation of People’s Act.

“Given the express and unequivocal findings of the commission that there were indeed pervasive breaches and failures to comply with mandatory provisions of the Representation of People’s Act during the conduct of the 2013 general elections, it is imperative for the ECP to initiate criminal prosecutions against the officials who were found to have committed the offence. Failure of the ECP to exercise this power which is exclusively vested in the ECP and its commissioner under section 95 (1) will further undermine its credibility and give raise to further questions about its will and capacity to faithfully carry out and perform its constitutional and statutory duties and obligations,” Mr Khan said in the letter.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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