THE 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, recently approved by the two houses of parliament, is a major step forward towards improving the general management of elections. However, it leaves the real issue of managing the finer electoral details and procedures unaddressed — an aspect that might be taken up through subsequent reforms in the legislative framework governing elections in Pakistan.

Despite its shortcomings, the 22nd Amendment act is a significant piece of legislation that is rightly premised on the rationale that elections are a massive administrative exercise and not merely a legal undertaking that can be managed only by retired judges of the superior courts. This change in the legislative mindset has come at a time when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to start preparations for the next general elections in 2018 and when the members of the commission are completing their five-year tenure this month.

The constitutional amendment has expanded the qualifications for the chief election commissioner and ECP members to also include retired bureaucrats and technocrats with meritorious national or international achievements. Earlier, these positions could only be filled by existing or retired judges of the higher courts, who might have much legal experience but who lack in management knowhow.

In addition, the amendment has insulated the commission from the judiciary as the chief justice of Pakistan is no longer required to nominate an acting chief election commissioner from amongst the judges of the Supreme Court. The acting chief election commissioner will now be the oldest member of the commission.

The 22nd Amendment should hopefully ensure that the ECP is staffed with those with the relevant competence.

The amendment will ensure that the prime minister and the leader of the opposition have a broader and more competent pool of personnel to choose from for these coveted posts. More importantly, these personnel will have administrative prowess that is essential to holding elections which is a large-scale management exercise.

The scale of electoral management can be judged by the fact that it involves deployment and supervision of more than 1,000 district returning officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers — right from the announcement of the election schedule up to the notification of results and beyond. On the day of the vote, the election administration swells to around 700,000 personnel who manage voting and counting at nearly 70,000 polling stations in the country.

From printing to dispatch of critical and non-critical election material to election officials for pre-election and election day processes, the conduct of polls involves methodical planning, prompt decision-making and the strict enforcement of rules, which can only be overseen by personnel who are familiar with management.

The earlier fixation with judges being the best for the job has been one of the major spoilers of the quality of elections. Take the example of general elections 2013, whose quality has been questioned even by the independent judicial commission set up to investigate allegations of rigging. The commission might not have established rigging but had categorically concluded that election 2013 was tainted by wide-scale irregularities due to bad planning and mismanagement.

The amendment should hopefully ensure that the ECP is staffed with those with the relevant competence. However, unless issues related to the detailed management of elections are addressed, the independent and competent ECP may not be able to deliver an election that meets the standards laid out in the Constitution — honest, just, fair and in accordance with the law.

Foremost among such issues is the fiscal autonomy of the commission. The financial autonomy of the commission should be guaranteed in law, including authority over approval of its budget, the maintenance of accounts, the creation of posts, appointment of all officials including its secretary, and authority over supplementary grants. A section should be added to the Representation of the People Act, 1976 providing for a line in the federal budget allocating sufficient resources to the ECP for its needs. The commission shall, however, be subject to audit by the auditor general of Pakistan.

Also important is power for the commission to make its own rules. Currently, the election rules are subject to the approval of the president, which exposes the commission to executive influence. Adequate legislative measures are required to completely insulate it from the executive. One such measure should include powers for the ECP to take direct action and penalise any seconded staff during or after the elections in the event of the establishment of corrupt or illegal practices on part of any staff not fulfilling the obligations of the position without referring their case to their parent department.

Similarly, it is absolutely important that the ECP be authorised to prosecute any government or state functionary during or after the election period for misconduct, corrupt or illegal practices. The commission should be empowered to issue binding orders to government entities with regard to their assistance to the electoral process and suspend any public functionary who, during an election, fails to comply with its directives. Article 220 of the Constitution may be amended to include the binding authority of the commission on all executive authorities in the federation and provinces, which currently are only duty-bound to provide assistance.

But most important will remain the ECP’s ability to directly supervise the electoral process. The district returning officers need to be from amongst the staff of the ECP to enable its direct control over the returning officers, who currently work independently. The work of the returning officers should only be subject to the instructions provided by the ECP.

The 22nd Amendment will only yield dividends if the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms, which has been at work since the summer of 2014, empowers the ECP with adequate powers and the authority required to ensure its strict control over all electoral processes — preparation of electoral rolls, finalisation of polling lists, candidates’ nomination process, election day process including voting, counting and consolidation processes, etc. Transparency and accountability should underline the reforms as a prerequisite to inspiring public confidence in elections and the ECP.

The writer works with the Free and Fair Election Network.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2016