Election season is now officially under way as the Election Commission of Pakistan began accepting nomination papers from prospective candidates after a brief controversy over the wording of the papers. Last week, the Lahore High Court had nullified the nomination papers for not including details about any possible criminal background or dual nationality that might be held by candidates, and for omitting other information required under Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution. But the nullification was suspended by the Supreme Court on Sunday, allowing the ECP to begin the important work of scrutinising candidates. That the question of Articles 62 and 63 has already arisen shows how large a shadow they will cast over the upcoming polls. The PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif and PTI’s Jehangir Tareen have already been given lifetime bans from holding public office under these articles while former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was only given a last-minute reprieve by the Supreme Court. The ECP has the enormous power to accept or reject candidates and it is one that it will have to exercise responsibly. Before the 2013 elections, individual returning officers took it upon themselves to issue religious tests to prospective candidates as a way of determining if they passed the ‘sadiq’ and ‘ameen’ standard. The ECP will have to issue clear instructions that a repeat performance will not be tolerated.
The ECP is now in charge of ensuring the integrity of the elections on July 25. The Supreme Court has also been hearing a case on the implementation of electoral reforms by the ECP. These reforms specifically called for limits on how extravagantly candidates spend money to win elections. While the code of conduct issued by the ECP last week does mention spending limits, it lacks teeth because there is no enforcement mechanism. If the experience of past elections is anything to go by, the wealthy will once again try to buy their seats. The traditional mode of door-to-door campaigning has been eclipsed by lavish rallies and expensive advertisements. This will only serve to reinforce the stranglehold that the elite has on parliament. The Supreme Court has hinted that it may form a larger bench to look at the nomination papers and has also spoken of ensuring the code of conduct is followed. Ideally, the ECP would not need any prodding to do its job. For the results of the next elections to be accepted by everyone, all actions taken by the ECP henceforth must be beyond reproach. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the health of our democracy depends on it.