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Elections Act gives absolute powers to ECP

By Tariq Butt
May 12, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is empowered to suspend any official appointed or deputed to perform duties in connection with the polls.

All such officials will be deemed to be under the control, superintendence and discipline of the ECP for the period commencing on and from the date of appointment or deputation till publication of the name of the returned candidates, section 55 of the Elections Act says.

It means that such officers will be under the command of the ECP not only during the polls but even after the conclusion of the electoral exercise and till the publication of the winning contestants. Such period will exceed two months.

For every parliamentary polls, the ECP nominates multitudes of government servants as election officers to carry out the marathon process. Apart from its own strict supervision, it also reacts to public complaints against any such delinquent official.

The objective behind empowerment of the ECP, arming it with massive powers, is to make it independent, let it not be dependent on the caretaker government or administrative machinery and to have a strict control over the election officials to conduct the elections in a fair, free and transparent manner.

As the election process starts, it is the ECP, which runs the show relating to the polls. The federal and provincial interim governments can’t interfere in the process as per the Elections Act. In fact, under the law the caretakers are obliged to assist the ECP to hold the polls in an impartial and neutral manner.

Section 55 further states that the ECP may initiate and finalise disciplinary action and impose any penalty against any election official for any act of misconduct provided in the Efficiency and Discipline Rules (E&DR) as applicable to him or under any provision of misconduct under the Elections Act. For this purpose, the ECP will be deemed to be the competent authority.

The electoral commission may, at any time, for reasons to be recorded in writing, suspend or withdraw any election official, a public servant or any other person in the service of Pakistan who obstructs, or prevents, or attempts to obstruct or prevent, the conduct of a fair and impartial polls; or interferes or attempts to interfere with a voter when he casts his vote; or influences or attempts to influence in any manner the polling staff or a voter; or does any other act calculated to influence the result of the polls; or disobeys any order, or avoids to carry out any instruction issued by the ECP or any officer authorised to issue any order or instruction or violates any provision of the polls law.

The ECP may appoint an official to act as an enquiry or authorised officer to initiate and finalise proceedings under the E&DR applicable to the election official concerned against whom action has been taken by it or other provision of the Elections Act or by the Returning Officer (RO) under section 54.

The enquiry or authorised officer will complete his task under the E&DR as applicable to the election official concerned or under the Elections Act within thirty days of the reference to him and will submit the report to the ECP within seven days of the completion of the enquiry.

The ECP may impose any penalty provided in the E&DR as applicable to the election official concerned or any penalty provided under the Elections Act. An election official aggrieved by a final order passed by the ECP may, within thirty days of receipt of the final order, file an appeal in the relevant service tribunal or other judicial forum.

Where the ECP suspends or withdraws any election official, it may appoint his replacement to perform the suspended or withdrawn officer.