ECP all set to use RTS in by-elections

ISLAMABAD: With burning questions on the failure of Result Transmission System (RTS) in July 25 general election still unanswered, the Election Commission of Pakistan is all set to use the system again in the upcoming by-elections in 37 constituencies on October 14.

By-elections are due in 11 National Assembly and 26 provincial assemblies’ constituencies.

The opposition parties say the government had enough time to probe into the RTS failure so that necessary corrections could have been made and loopholes looked into well on time before to by-elections.

All opposition parties in the Senate as well as the National Assembly have strongly criticized the failure of RTS and called for a parliamentary investigation into the system.

Even some government allies also aired concerns over this particular issue. Needless to say, with questions on RTS fiasco unanswered, will it be wise to incorporate the technology again is being debated in political circles.

It was learnt that during their interaction with the Election Commission, some international observers had expressed surprise over the ‘premature’ use of RTS, saying there should have been a series of trials of the system for at least a year before putting it to use in the nation-wide exercise.

On its part, the government has also not been able so far to form a parliamentary committee, though the government and opposition parties have agreed in principle to constitute an NA special committee to probe poll rigging. However, it is anybody’s guess how much time the proposed panel would take to come up with concrete findings, as the Senate has already objected to having been left out.

“The Election Commission strictly functions as per the Constitution and the law, and there is a law before us i.e. the Elections Act, 2017, which makes the use of RTS mandatory,” said the Election Commission spokesman Nadeem Qasim, when The News contacted him on telephone for his views on this count.

He defended the use also by saying that they had used RTS a few months before the general election and it worked nicely.

He was hopeful that the technology would do well, given the poll exercise on a much smaller scale i.e. only 37 constituencies.

“The government is already working on formation of a parliamentary commission while the Election Commission is bound by the law to use RTS,” he maintained.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has written twice to the Cabinet Division with directions under Article 220 of the Constitution that the Cabinet Division should form a committee comprising technical experts from National Telecom and Information Technology Security Board (NTISB) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The committee was asked to analyse the RTS project, the concept of RTS in terms of it being implementable, its preparation and finalisation by National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra), the quality and extent of training imparted to its users, the train of events taking place on the night of July 25 and thereafter, fix responsibility [for any malfunction] and make recommendations for future, according to the terms of reference decided by the commission, reads a letter written to the Cabinet Division secretary. However, there has been hitherto no positive response from the Cabinet Division.