ECP conveys concerns on poll bill to govt
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has formally conveyed its concerns over the controversial Elections Act (Amendment) Bill recently bulldozed in the National Assembly amid the opposition's outcry.
Informed sources said the commission had raised objection against 45 out of the total 72 proposed amendments in separate letters sent to the ministries of parliamentary affairs and law and justice.
A document sent to the government detailing reasons for objection finds 15 amendments repugnant to the Constitution and five inconsistent with the Act itself. A total of 17 amendments have been opposed by the commission on administrative grounds. The ECP has supported 27 amendments as these were and another eight with amendments.
A document annexed with the letters, a copy of which is available with Dawn, reveals that amendment to section 17 and section 221 seeking "delimitation on the basis of voters instead of population", is among the ones found to be in contravention of the constitutional provisions.
It points out that the amendment was in conflict with Article 51(5), which provided for allocation of seats on the basis of population. "This impliedly requires delimitation on the basis of population," the document reads.
The proposed omission of 11 sections of Chapter-IV (Sections 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, and 44) relating to preparation and revision of electoral rolls has also been objected to finding this in conflict with Articles 219(a) and 222(c) of the Constitution. "Article 219(a) requires periodical revision of electoral rolls. Article 222 guarantees that no law shall have the effect of taking away or abridging any of the powers of the Commissioner or the
Election Commission," it says.
"Omission of aforesaid sections will in fact take away the power of Commission of preparation and revision of electoral rolls and hand over the function to Nadra which will be against Article 222," it asserts.
Likewise, a proposed amendment to section 25, which aims to empower Nadra to register a fresh NIC holder as voter, has also been opposed on the plea that registration of voters was an exclusive power of ECP under Article 219 of the Constitution.
The commission has also assailed the proposed amendment to section 43 empowering Nadra to remove the name of the deceased voter from electoral rolls on the similar ground.
Amendment to section 104(4) and (5) providing for submission of fresh list by parties in the event of vacancy has also been found to be flawed as Article 224(6) of the Constitution requires provision of additional names only after the previous party list has been exhausted.
The proposed amendment to section 122 seeking open ballot for Senate election is also in the list of amendments found to be inconsistent with the Constitution. It says a committee has already been constituted to propose a mechanism to implement the Supreme Court's opinion on presidential reference No. 1 to this effect.
"The matter will be addressed once detailed opinion is issued," it reads. About amendment to section 202 seeking 10,000 members of each party instead of 2,000 for enlistment with the ECP, the commission notes that regional parties will find it impossible to increase their membership to proposed strength of 10,000 members.
The ECP has also opposed amendment to section 231 seeking to add an explanation to set scrutiny date as the critical or cutoff date for the purposes of assessing the qualifications or disqualifications, observing that it was in conflict with Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution, which provide pre-qualification of a candidate and post disqualification of a lawmaker. "A statutory provision cannot regulate constitutional provisions," it stresses.
The commission has also opposed amendment to section 9 to decrease the time for ECP to declare a poll void from 60 days to 30 days. "Commission may order for inquiry if it deems fit and summon any record it need be which may require multiple adjournments.
Decreased period of 30 days will practically render holding of inquiry impossible," it notes. Amendment to section 273 prescribing three years' jail term for the delinquent official has been opposed on the ground that Section 188 of Elections Act 2017 already provides for penalty of two-and-a-half years to the concerned official for offence under section 172(2).