Civil society rejects changes in elections act

LAHORE The introduction of over 150 amendments just four weeks before the end of the National Assembly’s tenure, under the guise of electoral reforms, has severely eroded the trust of the people and civil society in state institutions and the future of democratic governance in Pakistan.

In a press statement issued on Thursday, organisations like Pattan and Coalition 38 expressed their concerns. They emphasised that there is a consensus in the country against the proposed amendments. The act, which was originally passed by consensus by all parliamentary parties after prolonged negotiations, should not be hastily amended without creating a new consensus.

The statement further noted that amending an act of this magnitude without seeking input from scholars, think tanks, and civil society on over 150 sections within a span of four weeks is an impossible task. This leads to the reasonable conclusion that the hidden purpose of these amendments is not to improve the quality of future elections but to manipulate them.

Pattan and Coalition 38 also pointed out that while the proposed recommendations for legislative changes claim to improve the quality of the election process, they fail to provide a clear

explanation of how they would achieve this goal. For instance, the act defines various terms used within it but fails to define important terms like “free and fair elections.”