THE Supreme Court, on Monday, removed another hurdle in the way of timely conduct of polls by ruling that objections could not be raised against delimitation of constituencies once the election schedule was announced. The order was passed by a three-member apex court bench headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah on a plea filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) challenging the changes made by the Balochistan High Court in delimitation of two constituencies.
The instant and timely decision of the top court has effectively put a seal to attempts made by individuals and parties to seek changes in delimitation of constituencies, as the litigation had the potential to derail the electoral process. Appeals against delimitations is a constitutional right but the court has objected to the timing of such moves, pointing out that all parties and politicians seek timely elections but engage in activities that threaten the process. It is also evident that relief cannot be granted to individuals at the cost of the system. Now that a firm message has gone to all stakeholders that the apex court is in no mood to entertain pleas for delaying the general election under any situation, all institutions and parties should, therefore, refrain from moves that could divert attention, time and resources away from the goal post of free and fair elections on time. A comprehensive mechanism is in place to ensure transparency of the elections and we have time to sit together to fine tune arrangements to realize this objective so that no fingers are raised towards credibility of the set-up which would emerge from February 08 polls.
