Conduct of LB polls was better this time: Fafen

LAHORE: The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Sunday observed that the first phase of the local bodies (LB) elections was better than that in the past. However, irregularities committed in the May 11 2013 general polls were repeated in the polls.
A Fafen statement said that an impressive number of people turned out to vote in the first phase of the LB elections in Punjab held in 12 districts, which were relatively peaceful but marred with procedural irregularities and illegalities that continue to show the weak grip of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the enforcement of electoral processes.
One of the most pronounced irregularities on election day was the barrier on the observation of both voting and the counting processes at the polling stations despite issuance of accreditation by the ECP. The report is being released with the purpose of influencing improvements in the second and third phases of the LB elections which are due on November 19 and December 5, 2015, respectively. The election in Islamabad Capital Territory is scheduled for November 30, 2015.
Fafen’s preliminary findings suggest that 177 (71%) of the 249 polling stations across 12 districts from where the information could be acquired reported various violations of electoral procedures, including restrictions on independent observation of voting and counting processes, breach of secrecy of voting, canvassing inside polling stations, presence of security personnel inside polling stations and incidences of interference by security and election staff in the voting processes. Fafen’s observation was also curtailed due to the arbitrary issuance of accreditation cards by district returning officers (DROs) who provided these cards to only 757 observers against permission for 1,013 by the ECP.
The conduct of the election itself is a step forward and significant in terms of the deepening of democracy in the country. The campaign that preceded election day was competitive and relatively peaceful, although competing political actors continued to allege interference of the provincial government in the electoral processes through use of official machinery and funds allocated for development to woo voters. There has been little action by the ECP to enforce its code of conduct for political parties and contesting candidates which was promulgated well ahead of the elections.
The observation is conducted in strict compliance with the ECP’s code of conduct for observers and Fafen’s own code, which requires observers to be non-partisan, autonomous, independent and accurate in their observations. All observers are required to sign a legal undertaking about their independence and non-partisanship before being incorporated for observation.
According to the ECP’s latest instructions which were passed on to Fafen at its meeting with ECP officials on October 30, 2015, observers may also be summoned as witnesses in any administrative and judicial proceedings. Additionally, the ECP has also instructed Fafen to ensure that observers have their accreditation cards signed by the presiding officers of the polling stations they observe. Fafen will return all the accreditation cards to the ECP as proof that the polling stations were indeed observed.