Upcoming Senate election: ECP sole authority to hold polls within a month

ISLAMABAD: The existing legal and constitutional scheme allows election to half of the Senate within a month before the term of the retiring MPs will end.

It implies that the forthcoming election can be held in February as per the government wish with its aim of hurrying up the process to upset the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) plan to abort the Senate poll through resignations from assemblies. The leaving senators’ tenure expires on March 11, 2021 and their replacements can be elected any time after February 11, former Upper House Chairman Barrister Wasim Sajjad explained to The News, when contacted.

He referred to Article 224(3) of the Constitution, which says an election to fill the seats in the Senate, which are to become vacant on the expiration of the term of the members of the Senate shall be held not earlier than thirty days immediately preceding the day on which the vacancies are due to occur.

Thus, the election can’t be held more than a month before the end of the term of the outgoing senators. It can also not be delayed beyond the expiry of such tenure. In 2018, the oath was administered to the newly-elected senators on March 11, 2018, starting their term.

However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issues the schedule for such polls after every three years even before this one month time begins. Under the polls law, the ECP is the sole authority to organise elections to the Senate. The process is spread over different phases that will take about a month to conclude if the 2018 election schedule is any guide and is repeated this time as well. The ECP had issued the schedule on Feb 2, 2018 under the Elections Act, 2017, and supervised the polling on March 3 in the four provincial assemblies, consuming almost a month in these proceedings. It had released a separate schedule for election of two senators by the National Assembly, which spanned 28 days.

If the ECP fully goes along the government’s decision, it may make public the election schedule in the second week of January and organise the polling after Feb 11. It may also shorten the schedule as allowed by the Elections Act. The exercise involved issuance of a notification by the ECP to fill the impending vacant seats and fixed the last dates for filing nomination papers, publication of the names of nominated candidates, scrutiny of candidacy papers, filing of appeals against acceptance/rejection of nominations, disposal of appeals by the election tribunal, publication of revised list of candidates and withdrawal of candidature.

The Elections Act says the Returning Officer (RO) may, for the purpose of scrutiny, require any agency, authority or organisation, including a financial institution, to produce any document or record or to furnish any such information as may be necessary to determine facts relating to an objection to the candidature of a contestant. However, he will not ask any question which has no nexus with the information supplied in the paper; or has not arisen from the objections raised by any person or from information received during the scrutiny.

The RO will question a candidate’s declaration that he is qualified to contest and has met the requirements of the poll law only if tangible material to the contrary is available on record. He may, either on his own motion or upon any objection, conduct such summary inquiry as he may think fit and reject a nomination paper if he is satisfied that the candidate is not qualified, the proposer or the seconder is not eligible to subscribe to the nomination paper; the law has not been complied with or the declaration is false or incorrect in any material particular and the signature of the proposer or seconder is not genuine.

The RO will not reject a nomination paper on the ground of any defect which is not of a substantial nature and may allow any such defect to be remedied forthwith and will not inquire into the correctness or validity of any entry in the electoral roll. Where a candidate deposits any amount of loan, tax or government dues and utility expenses payable by him of which he is unaware at the time of filing of his nomination paper, his candidature will not be rejected on the ground of such default. However, if the RO is satisfied that the aspirant has willfully concealed such dues, he will reject his nomination paper.

An appeal against scrutiny will be summarily decided within the time fixed by the ECP and any order so passed will be final. If, on the basis of information or material coming to its knowledge by any source, a tribunal is of the opinion that a candidate whose nomination has been accepted is a defaulter of loans, taxes, government dues and utility expenses or has had any loan written off or has willfully concealed such fact or suffers from any other disqualification from being elected as a member of the Senate, it may, on its own motion, call upon him to show cause why his papers may not be rejected.