ECP in process of forming election monitoring teams

ISLAMABAD: As a part of its preparations for 2018 general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sought list of officers from its local chapters, to be trained for nation-wide first-ever monitoring of the electoral exercise.

The ECP plans to monitor the next general elections, covering all the directly-contested seats of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies simultaneously. Terms of reference of the proposed monitoring reams will include monitoring of pre-polls, polls-day and post-polls activities.

The government was approached early last year for the creation of 141 new posts for the Monitoring Wing along with financial and logistic allocations.

The four provincial election commissioners, regional and district election commissioners have been asked to submit lists of officers of good repute from the government, semi-government departments for their role in the proposed monitoring teams. They have been asked by the ECP, through a letter on March 9 to furnish such lists by March 22.

The Elections Act, 2017 says, “The Commission shall constitute a monitoring team consisting of such number of persons as may be determined by it, to monitor election campaign of the candidates and political parties and report, on regular basis in the prescribed manner, to an officer nominated by the Commission in respect of each district for the purpose of deciding the complaints regarding any violation by a candidate or a political party of any provision of the Act, Rules or the Code of Conduct issued by the Commission”.

The Commission, it explains, shall constitute a monitoring team for a constituency or a group of constituencies and determine the terms of reference of the monitoring team. “If the officer, nominated under sub-section (1), receives a report of any violation of the Act or the Rules and, after holding a summary enquiry, finds that the reported violation has been committed and no other punishment is provided under the Act for such violation, he may impose a fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees”.

However, the violation (s), if persisted despite imposition of fine, the matter will be then, reported to the Election Commission and it can even bar a violator from taking part in the electoral exercise.

Indeed, the exercise will be gigantic, as the number of voters has for the first time, crossed 100 million mark and naturally, there will be more candidates and tougher job to monitor them till the announcement of election results,” conceded a senior ECP official while talking to The News here.

He believed that around 3,000 personnel would be required for the proposed teams to be constituted for each NA and provincial assembly constituency. It is pertinent to mention that a central monitoring cell has already been established at the Election Commission Secretariat here.

“Monitoring teams will greatly lessen pressure on district returning officers and returning officers to focus more on their job, including looking into nomination papers and scrutiny of the same,” he maintained.

Though, the Election Commission’s initiative may face problems, ranging from logistics to coordination, the activity is believed to contribute to an extent in ensuring adherence to the election rules and the code of conduct for elections.