News
Thursday, March 14, 2013
ECP-proposed amendment for poll campaign monitoringSC raises an eyebrow over govt reservations
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was surprised to know on Wednesday that the federal government had shown reservations regarding an amendment proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan’s for monitoring of the election campaign.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has made it clear that the amendment being sought is already part of the judgement and is binding on all concerned, including the candidates, voters and the citizens who all are interested in ensuring that the country is governed by the chosen representatives. To guard against corrupt practices the government should not have objection in this regard, as it is a requirement of the constitution, he said.
The counsel for the ECP, Muhammad Munir Paracha, furnished details of the steps being taken to arrange free and fair election, and said that the government has been requested to legislate in this regard. He stated that out of the same, one relates to the amendment in Section 104 of the Representation of the People Act, 1996 (ROPA), by insertion of Section 104B, but the government has expressed reservations in this regard.
According to the proposed Section 104B, “monitoring of election campaign, etc. (1) The commission shall appoint teams of monitors consisting of such number of members as may be determined by the commission, for a constituency or a group of constituencies which shall monitor election campaign of the candidates and shall report in the format approved by the commission violations of the code of conduct on daily basis, if any, by the candidates, to the district returning Officer. The district returning officer, on receipt of reports mentioned in sub-rule (1), shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of Section 86B(1) of the Act.”
During the hearing, the court observed that 180 million people of Pakistan wanted fair and free election in the country, therefore there should not be delay from by any quarter. It also reiterated that it would not allow delay in general elections. The court observed that the real representative government in the country could only be formed when the elections are held in a free and fair manner.
Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Dil Muhammad Alizai, appearing on behalf of federation, said: “For holding fair elections all hurdles would be removed.” The DAG said that he received the March 12, 2013, order on Tuesday, therefore he could not seek instructions from the law and justice secretary. He sought time to file the federation’s reply. Bilal Hassan Minto, counsel for petitioner, pointed out that the ECP-proposed amendment relates to one of the observations of the apex court in the Workers Party case.
He said according to it “the Election Commission is empowered to check not just illegal actions relating to the election (violating the limits set for campaign finance, etc.) or corrupt practices (bribery, etc.), but is also empowered to review all election activities, including jalsas, jaloos, use of loudspeakers, etc. for their effects on the standards of ‘fairness, justness and honesty’.” “The Election Commission is also empowered to take pre-emptive measures to ensure that the spirit of democracy and ‘fairness, justness and honesty’ of elections is fully observed.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk