Friday, September 06, 2013

PTI asked to submit rigging allegations to tribunals

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to present the allegations mentioned in its white paper to the respective election tribunals to substantiate the complaints or grievances mentioned.

The commission would examine the specific allegations pertaining to the ECP, if any, and would respond to that in due course of time, if and when so required, by any competent forum.

PTI had filed 77 petitions before the ECP under Section 103-AA of Representation of People Act-1976 (ROPA), which had been disposed of by the ECP.

PTI also filed 61 election petitions under Section 52 of the ROPA, 1976 with ECP, which have been forwarded to the respective election tribunals.

Likewise, other political parties and candidates filed 320 petitions under Section 103 AA of the ROPA, 1976, which were disposed of by the ECP.

Furthermore, 341 election petitions filed by political parties and candidates under Section 52 of the ROPA, 1976 have also been forwarded to the respective election tribunals.

In the wake of the white paper released by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), received by the ECP on September 2, ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan had issued the initial response to the various issues raised in the white paper and through the media.

He said that the ECP was mandated by the constitution to ensure that the elections were held honestly, justly and fairly. With a view of discharging this constitutional responsibility, the ECP in consultation with political parties and other stakeholders had taken all possible steps to achieve the above-mentioned goal.

He further said that the elections have been hailed all over the world as a big success in terms of a step forward towards strengthening of democracy in the country. The political parties too have accepted the election results with certain individual complaints and reservations, including the ones expressed by PTI, he added.

He said ECP itself was carrying out a post-elections analysis to identify the strengths as well as weaknesses observed so that further improvements could be brought about in the electoral processes in the future.

The secretary said that the subject matter of the white paper was sub-judice in the election tribunals and, therefore, the ECP would only respond in broad terms to the complaints made by PTI.

He said seeking redressal of complaints either by PTI or any other political party was their inherent right as enshrined in the law. In order to avoid a delay caused in the disposal of petitions, as was the case in the past, the ECP has opted for constituting election tribunals consisting of retired district and sessions judges so that the election petitions could be disposed of within 120 days as specified in the law, he added.

He further said that it was the ECP’s initiative to prepare the electoral rolls with photographs for identification of each voter and with the additional precautionary measure in terms of obtaining thumb impressions of the voters in magnetised ink to preclude the possibility of impersonation by any person and to prevent casting of bogus votes.

Thus, any demand made by any political party, including PTI in terms of seeking rechecking of election results and verification of thumb impressions was concurred to by the ECP so that confidence of the electorate was enhanced in the electoral system, he added.

He said that the ECP has taken all possible steps in light of the relevant laws, rules and directions of the Supreme Court (SC) to ensure that the election was held justly, fairly and honestly as envisaged in the constitution.

He went on to say that on the polling day the polling takes place under the supervision of the district returning officers, returning officers and presiding officers with the assistance of the polling staff engaged from the provincial governments and the federal government while the security personnel belong to the provincial police and the federal security forces. No official of the ECP plays any direct role in this exercise and they only assist the DROs/ROs if required, he said.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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