Observation findings for 4 constituencies of Sialkot, including NA-110, were not included for paucity of timely data.
ISLAMABAD: This is apropos the article titled “Ten truths about electoral rigging” by Zahid F Ebrahim published on August 4. The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) submits that the writer has misrepresented FAFEN’s election observation findings and has not made a distinction between his own opinion and the FAFEN’s data and analyses. FAFEN would like to clarify the following points:
First, the author lays out the framework for his ten points by naming FAFEN as the source of his information. “[L]et’s see how they fare in the light of facts put together by FAFEN, an independent election monitoring NGO”, the author moves on to list 10 points, some of which are not discussed in any of the FAFEN publications. For instance, the points regarding the impact of election tribunals on PTI’s fortunes is a conclusion which FAFEN has never drawn and neither does it consider it as important to its research. FAFEN’s work is to document and analyse the electoral process — not to delve into political interpretation and the impacts of the tribunals’ work.
Similarly, the statement with regard to any of governments’ control or influence over the working of tribunals is another clear personal interpretation that, given the way it is written, makes it appear as if FAFEN or any of its findings are leading the writer to conclude. The fact is that FAFEN has not commented on the issue of government’s influence on the tribunals one way or the other in any of its reports or monthly updates on the working of the tribunals. To make this point clear, the data of cases filed and decided is FAFEN’s, the commentary or conclusions to declare the tribunals’ impartiality or even-handedness is the author’s own — a key distinction he has failed to make, thereby giving an impression as if both the findings and the conclusions are FAFEN’s.
Second, the author, while framing his points as reflective of FAFEN’s observation and findings without any qualification goes on to quote FAFEN subjects that were never discussed or analysed in any of its reports or updates. To clarify the ninth myth, FAFEN has not commented in any of its publications and election reports on the dynamics of party positions or the interest of the PPPP vis-à-vis the ongoing conflict between the PML-N and the PTI in the context of four constituencies.
Third, the author has referred to NA-110 as having zero cases of irregularities as per FAFEN’s observation of the election-day process. However, the author did not refer to the methodological notes of FAFEN’s Election Day Observation publication, which clearly states that observation findings for four constituencies of Sialkot, including NA-110, were not included in the report for paucity of timely data. FAFEN’s exhaustive Election Result Analysis and Election Day Observation and Process Analysis reports are both available on its website and is accessible to all interested.
Spokesperson Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 6th, 2014.
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