ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election regulatory body said on Monday its authority to conduct free and fair polls across the country had been “eroded” in the wake of the recent political developments, asking legislators to empower it to determine the election program on its own by amending relevant legal provisions.
The request was made by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in a letter to the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairman after the country’s top court dismissed his institution’s decision to postpone the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) polls and reschedule them in October this year.
The letter said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was an autonomous body formed under Article 218 (2) of the constitution and was required to conduct transparent elections by making necessary arrangements with the help of other state institutions.
It added that the commission was the “sole arbiter” to decide whether conducive environment existed to conduct the election or not, though the recent Supreme Court judgments in the Punjab and KP election delay case had divested it of its constitutional power.
“[The] ECP, in keeping with its mandate under Article 218 (3) to ensure free and transparent elections, has consistently strived to uphold the writ of law, fair play and merit in letter and spirit,” said the letter. “However, ... its writ has systematically been challenged on several occasions. In practice, ECP’s authority has been eroded.”
Referring to an “overbearing” judicial attitude in the past, the chief election commissioner asked whether it was still possible for the ECP to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
The letter suggested amendments to Sections 57 (1) and 58 of the election laws to empower the ECP to announce or alter election schedule without any external institutional interference.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered elections in the country’s most prosperous and populous Punjab province on May 14. The apex court also said the decision by the election commission to delay polls to October 8 from April 30 owing to security reasons and lack of funding was “unconstitutional.”
The top court directed the federal government to release Rs21 billion ($74 million) in funds to the ECP by April 10 so that it could conduct the polls, directing the election regulator to submit a report on the matter by April 11.
