Political parties demand immediate resolution of election disputes
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—Representatives of five major political parties expressed their disappointment over the Election Commission’s inaction on over two thousand complaints, which seriously limited the transparency and fairness of elections, held February 18. ‘
They demanded that election disputes be resolved in a timely manner and that the ECP convene immediately a consultation process with all contesting political parties to ensure that outstanding issues are resolved quickly and transparently. Such consultations should be ongoing, they added, to avoid the problems encountered in last week’s elections.
At a roundtable organized by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) in Islamabad party representatives raised serious concerns about flaws in the electoral list, lack of timely resolution of complaints, intimidation, violence and kidnapping before and on Election Day, lack of adequate polling staff, changes in the polling scheme on short notice, and inadequate security to ensure a safe environment on election day. The parties also questioned the ECP’s inability to announce the number of postal ballots issued.
Senior leadership of Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, Jamiat Ulema Islam (F) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement participated in the roundtable.
Reporting about their Election Day experiences party representatives cited numerous examples of fake voting, ballot stuffing, missing voters and multiple registrations on the voters list, incidents of violence against polling staff, agents and observers, murder of workers, involvement of nazims in manipulating voting, role of intelligence agencies, shortage of election staff and unexplained delay in reporting some election results.
Despite the security threat, they all agreed that party workers and voters alike dared to come out in large numbers and voice their opinion through the ballot” they said.
The parties developed specific recommendations to improve the electoral process including the need to resolve election petitions in the legally prescribed time. They also recommended a revision of the Code of Conduct in consultation with the political parties to include transparent and timely mechanisms for monitoring and adjudicating complaints.
Other recommendations include:
The ECP should ensure that the notification of returned candidates is issued without delay, as specified in the law. Sessions of the assemblies should be called immediately thereafter.
The NADRA database should be used to verify accuracy of the voters’ lists. The revised lists should be made readily available to political parties and civil society for review prior to finalization.
Obstacles to obtaining NADRA ID cards should be eliminated such as bureaucratic delays and inaccessibility of NADRA offices,. NADRA ID cards should be free of charge. All those who receive a CNIC should automatically be registered as voters.
The polling scheme should be announced at least two weeks prior to Election Day.
The ECP should be responsible for informing voters in which polling station and polling booth they should vote.
The ECP should provide each candidate with the exact number of postal ballots printed and issued for their constituency before Election Day.
The ECP and government should play their due role to prevent and check polling day violence and to guarantee a safe environment for voters, polling officials, political parties, polling agents, observers and media.
The ECP should take adequate measures to ensure that women are able to exercise their right to vote. This should include female enumerators during registration, providing adequate number of polling booths and staff for women, enhance voter education in areas with low female voter turn-out, and collect data on female voter turn out.
MQM and PML-Q agreed that where women were barred from voting the election should be declared null and void. PPP and PML-N demanded an inquiry, as per law, where such incidents occurred and strict punishment for violations.
The government should lift all restrictions on freedom of the media, including the repeal of the new PEMRA ordinances. MQM added that the media should act responsibly.
The ECP, in consultation with media and political parties, should develop elections Code of Conduct for public and private media and ensure equitable access to public media for all contestants in the elections.