AS the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) approved Rs 42.5 billion for Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as technical supplementary grant for holding elections in the country, the latter declared it was fully geared to hold the national polls which will have to be conducted before 11 October if the National and the two provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan were not dissolved earlier. Speaking at a briefing, senior officials of the Commission enumerated the steps so far taken to fulfil the constitutional responsibility of holding polls in a free, fair and transparent manner.
The approval of the required expenditure and categorical statement of the Election Commission that related formalities are being completed leaves no doubt that the general election is now quite in sight. This is in sharp contrast to the earlier stand of the Government and the Commission on the conduct of polls as the Government expressed its inability to make necessary financial allocations and the ECP cited security and other logistic issues impeding progress on the issue. As for the preparatory work for elections, the Commission has requested the judiciary to spare judicial officers to perform duties as district returning officers and returning officers; watermark paper has already been procured for printing ballot papers besides procurement of other essential material. A draft list of polling stations and data bank of polling staff had been prepared and coordination with printing presses for printing of ballot papers and nomination papers had been worked out. In an important related development, the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms has finalized its recommendations with a remarkable speed and these would now be presented before Parliament for approval. The approved proposed amendments from the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms include the provision that constituencies should be based on an equal number of registered voters. The delimitation process for constituencies will be completed four months before the announcement of the election schedule. The proposal aims to maintain an equal number of registered voters in all constituencies, ensuring that the number of voters in each constituency does not exceed five per cent. The Parliamentary Committee deserves credit for making viable recommendations to ensure transparency and credibility of the election results which has become a topic of hot discussion due to break-down of the Result Transmission System (RTS) in the last general election and complaints of manipulation of results besides uncalled for delay in the announcement of the results. The Committee has recommended a specific time-limit for presiding officers to compile results and they would be held accountable for any delay in the process. The proposed changes also allow polling agents to carry camera phones. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed at each polling station booth to assist in poll review, counting and compilation of results. Recordings from these cameras can be presented as evidence in cases of complaints. Candidates will have the option to obtain videos of any polling station by paying a fee. Hopefully, implementation of these proposals in letter and spirit would add to the credibility and transparency of the exercise and give due legitimacy to the government that would be formed after elections. There is no doubt about visible progress towards timely conduct of the polls but the issue of delimitation of constituencies could influence the process based on what position the incumbent and the next caretaker governments adopt. The Election Commission has maintained that due to time constraints, the general election would be held on old delimitations and that it would require three to four months for fresh delimitations if the results of the new census were notified. An important component of the coalition government – MQM – is pressing for holding next elections on the basis of new census and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was reported to have told a delegation of the party that no decision has yet been taken to hold elections on old delimitations. It seems the political government is not ready to bear the burden of further delay in the conduct of elections and apparently wants the caretaker set-up to take a decision, if needed in case of notification of results of the new census. The process can also be affected by several cases pending before the higher judiciary.
