Anti-people, anti-Constitution steps to be challenged: Rabbani

Says govt to complete its tenure; ECP should
not shy from wielding its vast powers;
democracy alone can keep Federation intact

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani has said that the government would complete its constitutional term as he stressed that the steps against the people and the Constitution would have to be challenged. 

He said that at present the civil-military bureaucracy and the ruling elite were not ready for real democracy in Pakistan, adding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could not use its powers and looked towards the military establishment and the judiciary, despite having its powers defined in the Constitution. 

Rabbani observed that the ECP should not have had any fears in carrying out its due role as its powers were defined in the Constitution.

“The state is the controlling factor of all other things happening in the country. We haven’t reached the stage where vote of an individual has its worth and is considered a factor to determine the future of the country,” he said while speaking here at a dialogue, organised by the Democracy Reporting International (DRI) as he presided over the function. 

Rabbani noted that Pakistan was at a stage where all roads other than democracy would lead to disintegration of the Federation. He added a strong Federation called for stable democratic institutions and every action, which was considered against the Federation, should be questioned by the people no matter where that decision came from.

He pointed out that the work of the electoral reforms committee considering the lacunae in election procedures was a right step by parliament. He said that parliament of Pakistan itself came forward to work on electoral reforms instead of forming a committee of the government. 

Rabbani appreciated the first two reports of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, stressing the need for filling the gaps in election procedures and for the required amendments to the Constitution. 

He lauded the formation of the committee with representation of political parties instead of handling the matter in a standing committee and bringing all laws relating to elections under one law.

The Senate chairman said that laws existed previously too and enhanced the powers of Election Commission (EC). However, the EC did not exercise its authority and kept looking towards the military establishment and the judiciary.

He said that criticism for the sake of criticism was not the solution but when laws were not implemented and their presence was confined to just books in libraries, it pointed the finger at the institution as well as the people associated with it.

Rabbani emphasised that elections had three constituents: they have to be free, fair and democratic. Senate chairman said that if democratic values did not grow in a society, a layman would not understand the significance of parliament and that of his vote. “Citizens will associate themselves with parliament when it is transparent,” he noted. 

He said the state still wanted to impose their whims as policy for the country, which determined the lives of citizens.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and civil society representatives commended the efforts of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) on presentation of the Draft Elections Bill, 2017, urging parliament to consider key improvements to the draft legislation and its timely enactment ahead of the 2018 general elections. 

The bill is currently open for public comment till January 19, 2017. While presenting the interim analysis of the draft law, Hassan Nasir Mirbahar, DRI Country Representative in Pakistan, highlighted the strengths and potential areas for improvements in line with international electoral standards. 

He emphasised that prompt passage of the bill was essential to allow sufficient time for its implementation. He also recognised the committee’s initiatives of soliciting input from general public and key stakeholders that will enhance the transparency of the process.

The event was chaired by Chairman Senate Rabbani, who commended DRI’s effort in bringing stakeholders, including parliamentarians, civil society and media, together to discuss the crucial and long-awaited electoral reforms as well as its presentation of the first publicised interim analysis of the bill. 

Civil society representatives also welcomed the PCER’s initiative. Human rights activist I.A Rehman, recognising the reforms effort of the parliamentary committee, emphasised that the reforms should be enacted at the earliest. He noted that they had been delayed for a long time; however, their timely enactment will ensure better elections. He added that further measures should be taken to give due representation to the minorities in Pakistan. 

Free and Fair Election Network’s (FAFEN) representative, Rashid Chaudhry, said that despite the laudable efforts of the PCER, the ECP rules for elections would require government approval under the draft bill, which might undermine the ECP’s independence and the credibility of elections in Pakistan. Both I.A Rehman and Rashid Chaudhry also stressed that parliament should ensure more transparent and inclusive committee sessions as well as greater public outreach so that citizens’ recommendations can be duly reflected in the legislation. 

The DRI’s analysis emphasised that an enhanced results’ management system includes measures that would facilitate timely release of results, and public dissemination of polling station-level data. This would significantly enhance the transparency of election results allowing stakeholders to cross-check published information against those observed at polling stations.  

The draft law also proposes solutions to the long-standing issue of delimitation of electoral constituencies. Since the last census was conducted in 1998, the review of delimitation has remained unaddressed for over a decade. DRI recognised that delimitation is to be conducted on the basis of electoral rolls in the absence of census data out-dated by more than ten years. This measure would be implemented for the 2018 elections, and will contribute to safeguarding equality of the vote. 

The DRI welcomed the formalisation of ECP’s and Nadra’s relationship in preparing and finalising the electoral rolls. Codification of the responsibilities of each institution secures the legal basis for the current practices of electoral rolls’ preparation. Subsequent to 2013 general election, there were allegations of partisan caretaker set-ups. The draft bill addresses this issue by providing a clear framework establishing the mandate of caretaker governments for National and provincial assemblies elections.  The DRI’s analysis also highlighted the development of a process to file complaints with the ECP, and provision of postal ballots for persons with disabilities as positive steps ensuring greater citizens’ trust on elections that will contribute to consolidation of democracy in Pakistan.

While there are significant achievements of the PCER in preparing the draft law, 2017, DRI stressed upon certain provisions that should be taken into consideration by parliament for amendments or additions prior to finalisation. The DRI also reiterated concerns over the constraints on ECP powers to issue rules which it can only do after government approval. These approvals could potentially compromise the impartial, independent and neutral role of the ECP, stain the transparency and erode public trust in election outcomes. The DRI also suggested reviewing the subjective candidacy criteria under article 62 and 63 of the Constitution. 

The DRI also urged that parliament should consider measures to enhance and protect the political participation of minorities. Another key challenge for parliament to address is on the proposed bar on high court orders against ECP action, including specific prohibitions on courts from questioning the validity of the electoral rolls or delimitation. 

Other remaining areas for improvement include the absence of a limit on candidates to running in one constituency, lack of clarity on requirements for conditions to ensure secrecy of the vote, and a continued deficiency of mandatory management checks on Returning Officers (ROs).