Daily Times

The 11th general election in the country was held without any major controversy barring the complaints about the slow counting and delayed transmission of results, the Free and Fare Election Network (FAFEN) says in its report.

The report maintains that the electoral activity proceeded in accordance with the Elections Act of 2017, and it was relatively better managed than that in 2013.

The FAFEN is a coalition of 50 civil society organisations that monitor elections and its related procedures integral to the functioning of the country’s democratic system. The report published on Friday is based on feedback received from more than 19,000 observers who monitored the polling process.

The report states, “The Election Day was better managed, relatively peaceful and free of any major controversy until late night concerns emerged over the transparency of the counting process, and the subsequent slow process of announcement of provisional results prompted some political parties to reject the election results.”

The report calls upon the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to resolve all reservations expressed by candidates and political parties.

Despite the glitches in the Results Transmission System (RTS), the FAFEN report acknowledges significant improvements in the quality of processes critical to the election cycle. This, it says, inspired greater public confidence.

The report highlights that the ECP appeared more assertive in its attempts to deliver an improved quality of election in terms of voter registration, with a particular focus on increasing women enrollment on electoral rolls; greater diligence in following legal principles in delimitation; and effective enforcement of campaign rules.

Further, the report notes that the commission oversaw an unprecedented deployment of government employees on election duties, adding that for the first time, 849 independent returning officers were assigned duties, which initially caused some procedural issues, such as in the finalisation of polling schemes, but the issued were addressed in time.

Regarding the deployment of armed forces personnel for security duties, the FAFEN report notes that despite questions raised by some political parties, this ensured peaceful conduct of election day heightened threats of subversive acts, following the death of more than 150 people including two election candidates in separate suicide attacks in Peshawar, Dera Ismail (DI) Khan and Mastung.

Detailing the voter turnout, the report says that the voter turnout stood at 50.3 per cent across the country. The province-wise breakdown is as follows: 59 per cent in the Punjab, 47.7 per cent in Sindh, 43.6 per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 39.6 per cent in Balochistan and 58.2 per cent in Islamabad.

The male turnout stood at 58.3 per cent, while the women’s turn out was 47 per cent.

The report also mentions that in NA-10 (Shangla) and NA-48 (North Waziristan), women’s turnout remained fewer than the 10 per cent minimum required under the law.

Published in Daily Times, July 28^th 2018.