ELECTION Commission of Pakistan and electoral process
remain under focus for understandable reasons but both
the institution and its working receive much less attention than it requires. This has once again been highlighted by lack of concern on the part of the authorities concerned to take measures to complete formation of the Commission, which remains incomplete for a long time in the absence of two members and might become dysfunctional altogether if timely steps were not taken to have replacement of the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan.
It was in this pathetic backdrop that Secretary of the Commission Babar Yakub highlighted the issue on Friday urging the Government and the Opposition to sort out the matter of the appointment of the Commission members soon to prevent the body from becoming ineffective next month. Addressing a conference on election reforms, he warned that the Commission would not be able to hold local government elections in the absence of CEC and members. He also had a point in complaining that under the law the ECP was an autonomous body but this status was not being recognized by other institutions. It is regrettable that the ECP should be neglected in this fashion in democratic set ups despite the fact that its empowerment could provide a permanent solution to all electoral woes of the country. All political parties talk about transparency and fairness of elections but when in power they are least bothered to take concrete measures for the purpose. Previously, PTI was crying about rigging in elections and now the current opposition is repeating the complaint but strangely enough none of the sides was serious enough to address issues that could bring about an end to such complaints. Election Act was a positive movement but it too has some operational flaws, which need to be removed besides taking more measures for financial and overall autonomy/empowerment of the Commission so that it is not vulnerable to any manipulation.
