Proposed election reforms: Lawmakers will be required to file assets, liabilities statements of ‘dependent’ spouses

ISLAMABAD: An amendment proposed by the government in the Elections Act, 2017 will require every lawmaker to file a statement of assets and liabilities of their ‘dependent’ spouse, which means that he or she will not need to submit such a declaration for his or her ‘independent’ husband or wife.

The bill, which has been moved in the National Assembly, has proposed this amendment in Section 137(1) of the Elections Act. The existing subsection says every member of the national or provincial assembly and Senate will submit to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on or before December 31 each year a copy of his statement of assets and liabilities including assets and liabilities of his [now replaced with dependent] spouse and dependent children as on the preceding thirtieth day of June. It is clear from the present provision that it is mandatory for a legislator to file the assets and liabilities statement of his spouse whether the latter is independent or not.

Furthermore, a proposed amendment in Section 76(1) says a contesting candidate may appoint five voters [presently it is just one voter] from the constituency as his election agents for separate and designated polling stations in that constituency without any overlapping.The candidate will send to the returning officer (RO) a notice in writing of the appointment containing the names, fathers’ names, voter numbers and addresses of the agents 24 hours before the start of polling.

The bill also seeks to amend Section 95(9) and adds “accredited observers”. The current provision states that after the consolidation of results, the RO will give to the contesting candidates and their election agents who are present during the consolidation proceedings a copy of the consolidated statement of the results of the count and the final consolidated result sent to the ECP against a proper receipt.

Another amendment suggests an increase in the fees for national and provincial assembly seats to be paid at the time of filing candidacy papers. A National Assembly seat contestant will be required to pay Rs50,000 instead of Rs30,000 and a provincial candidate will deposit Rs30,000 in place of Rs20,000. An addition has also been proposed which says the sum deposited by a candidate whose nomination papers are rejected or who withdraws or retires from an election will be refunded.

The section says if a contestant, not being the returned candidate, obtains less than one-fourth of the total votes polled in the constituency, the sum deposited by him or on his behalf will stand forfeited in favour of the government.

A deposit will become non-refundable if an application of its return is not submitted within three months from the date of declaration of result of the election by the ECP or, in case an election is not held, from the date of termination of the proceedings of an election.