ECP, opposition ‘agree’ on one point

ISLAMABAD: Despite severely attacking and counter-attacking each other, the opposition parties and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) clearly “agree” in their own way at which accurate point the general elections were massively messed up, stirring up serious doubts about the entire process.

This “convergence” of views is amply reflected in the positions the two sides have publicly taken. The “agreement” clearly identifies the real, common problem, which was of the ECP’s making. None of the opposition parties has raised accusing fingers at the veracity of the polling with almost everyone sharing the opinion that there was no hanky-panky during this phase. But all of them loudly yell that the trick came into play in the counting of votes by ousting the political parties’ agents after the polling and non-availability of Form-45 containing the vote count and the results. This is the real bone of contention being jointly repeated ad nauseam by the opposition parties.

The ECP confesses the acute problems, highlighted by the opposition parties, - finalisation and unprecedentedly delay in release of results. It has no answer to non-provision of Form-45 having been prepared in the presence of the polling agents. The goofing up of the results provoked many to smell a rat in the whole exercise.

If all went well and the opposition parties’ protest is totally unjustified, wild and uncalled for, why has the ECP officially sought explanations and clarifications from all the provincial election commissioners and District Returning Officers (DROs) and why has the ECP stated that a comprehensive accountability and scrutiny would be done about the (collapse of) Result Transmission System (RTS).

The ECP official’s argument that the Fafen and European observers have described the elections as fair, transparent and impartial is irrelevant to counter the opposition’s onslaught because the monitors’ findings pertain to the (undisputed) polling of votes on July 25 and have not focused on the faux pas involving Form-45, non-availability of results and driving out of polling agents during vote count. The opposition parties’ rejection of the electoral process, objections and reservations exclusively relate to the post-polling scenario and not the polling.

This is the factual official position of the stands taken by the two sides based on facts, which leaves no doubt that neither of them calls into question the stage where everything was played havoc, which made the parliamentary polls highly controversial.

The opposition’s call that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the four ECP members should step down because of the chaos created by them is a political demand. Its rejection by the ECP secretary and his urging to the opposition to respect the public mandate is his right to respond. But when large scale grave suspicions have been fueled by the ECP’s performance and admissions, it is at fault and not the opposition. The ECP official’s assertion that the constitutional institutions (ECP in this case) should be respected is asking too much from the other side because when such organisations do not perform honestly, they can’t seek respect. Public funds of Rs21 billions that were spent by the ECP are not a small amount in a poor country to produce a poor show.

What the ECP direly needs to do is to elaborately investigate the total breakdown of the RTS, make public the inquiry into it and severely punish those responsible for bringing about anarchy. At the same time, it may admit its blunders. It is because of the ECP’s handiwork that the elections have brought more political polarisation instead of stability and strengthening of democratic process.