15 political parties concerned over draft election bill

ISLAMABAD: As many as 15 political parties on Thursday expressed serious reservations about the draft elections bill, 2017 and urged the government to initiate structured engagement with important political parties to improve the draft, reflecting will of the people.

These political leaders agreed here that the draft needed further improvement as it did not capture the spirit of Article 218 (3) of the Constitution that ensured autonomy and independence of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the landmark verdict of the Supreme Court (SC) in the Workers Party Case in 2012.

The leaders opined that any law that did not guarantee complete independence and unbridled autonomy could not ensure conduct of free, fair, honest and just elections as required by the Constitution. They recommended proportionate representation system, direct elections to the Senate and reserved seats.

The law, in present form, it was believed, only protects the interests of political actors, who want to perpetuate the status quo, the participants agreed and unanimously recommended to parliament to introduce proportionate representation system, direct elections to the Senate as well as on reserved seats for women and non-Muslims as part of the ongoing electoral reforms process.

 The leaders of the political parties, which are not represented in Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms gathered in Islamabad and discussed the draft Elections Bill to furnish their recommendations.

The meeting was facilitated by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) as part of its ongoing efforts to advocate for improvement in draft legislation. The participants endorsed FAFEN’s recommendations for further improvement in draft bill.

The participants had also a consensus view on need for introducing effective and practical checks on the use of money in elections and need for urgency to boost voter registration of women and other marginalised groups especially in remote areas of Balochistan, Fata, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.

The participants also showed concern over the procedure of selection of the commission members and caretaker setup. The leaders advocated for making public the minutes of the meetings between Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition on appointment of commission members and caretaker setup. They emphasised that bipartisan approach should not be used to protect the status quo.

The participants also expressed views on census and delimitation of constituencies. Parties from Balochistan showed their concerns over displacement of population in the province due to insurgency and voiced for the early return of people to their native lands.

Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, President Balochistan National Movement, Senator Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini of Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, General Secretary Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Syed Yousaf Shah, Spokesperson for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Sami, Dr Safdar Ali Abbasi, President Pakistan People’s Party Workers, Farooq Tariq, Spokesperson for Awami Workers Party, Syed Hafeezuddin of Pak Sarzameen Party, Adnan Haider Randhawa, Chairman Aam Admi Party of Pakistan, Bostan Ali from Hazara Democratic Party, Mian Qayoom, Chairman Labour Qaumi Movement, Nasir Sherazi, Secretary Political Affairs Majlis-e-Wahdatul-Muslimeen, Peer Jamil Nasir Hashmi, Senior Vice President Jamiat Ulema Pakistan-Noorani, Rashid Ali Daudpota, Media Secretary Awami Tehreek (Sindh), Shahzeb Dhareja from Saraikistan Democratic Party and Lateef Ansari from Sanjh Tehreek attended the meeting.