Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Supporting strong federation for stable democratic institutions, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has said that every action which is considered against the federation should be questioned by the people no matter where that decision comes from.

Addressing a seminar on electoral reforms organised by the Democracy Reporting International (DRI), he said that Pakistan was at a stage where all roads other than democracy would lead to disintegration of the federation. He said that work of the electoral reforms committee considering the lacunas in election procedures was a right step by the parliament.

The Senate chairman said that the parliament itself came forward to work on electoral reforms instead of a government committee. He said that the parliamentary committee had representation of political parties and stakeholders were also invited. He appreciated the first two reports of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms.

He stressed the need for filling the gaps in election procedures and for the required amendments in the constitution. He lauded formation of the committee with representation of political parties instead of handling the matter in a standing committee and bringing all laws relating to the election under one law.

He said that laws existed previously too but those laws enhanced powers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, the commission did not make use of its authority and kept looking towards judiciary and the military establishment. He observed that the commission should not have had any fears in carrying out its due role as its powers were defined in the constitution.

He said that criticism for the sake of criticism was not the solution but when laws were not implemented and their presence was confined to just books in libraries, it points fingers towards the institution as well as the people associated with it. He said that the elections had three constituents – to be free, fair and democratic.

Rabbani said that if democratic values do not grow in a society, a lay man would not understand the significance of the parliament and that of his vote. “Citizens would associate themselves with the parliament when it is transparent,” he said. On the occasion, the lawmakers and the civil society representatives commended the efforts of the parliamentary committee on presentation of the Draft Elections Bill, 2017, urging the parliament to consider key improvements to the draft legislation and its timely enactment ahead of the 2018 general elections.

Currently, the bill was open for public comment till January 19, 2017. Presenting the interim analysis of the Draft Elections Bill 2017, DRI Country Representative Hassan Nasir Mirbahar highlighted the strength and potential areas for improvements in line with international electoral standards. He emphasized that prompt passage of the bill was essential to allow sufficient time for its implementation.

He also recognised the committee’s initiatives of soliciting input from general public and key stakeholders that would enhance the transparency of the process. Human rights activist IA Rehman emphasised that the reforms should be enacted at the earliest. He mentioned that they had been delayed for a long time period; however, their timely enactment would ensure better elections.

Free and Fair Election Network’s (FAFEN) representative Rashid Chaudhary said that despite the laudable efforts of the committee, the ECP rules for elections would require government’s approval under the draft bill, which may undermine the (ECP’s) independence and the credibility of elections in Pakistan.

DRI’s analysis emphasised that an enhanced results’ management system includes measures that would facilitate timely release of results, and public dissemination of polling station-level data. This would significantly enhance the transparency of the election results allowing the stakeholders to cross-check published information against those observed at the polling stations. The Draft Elections Bill 2017 also proposes solutions to the long-standing issue of delimitation of electoral constituencies.

Since the last census was conducted in 1998, the review of delimitation has remained unaddressed for over a decade.