Suggestions for electoral reform

Letter August 29, 2014
Pre-condition of graduate degree (or equivalent), duly recognised, verified by HEC, be re-introduced.

ISLAMABAD: Here are my suggestions for electoral reform: 1) The tenure of all elected bodies — national, provincial or district level — be reduced to four years. The same shall also apply to the office of the president and governors; the latter should also be elected by their respective assemblies and not appointed by the centre as at present

2) Any citizen of Pakistan may be a candidate for election to the national or provincial assemblies or to the office of president and governors, irrespective of gender or religion. A minimum age limit of 30 years (40 years in the case of the president and governors) be specified, which will hopefully ensure a modicum of maturity in our elected representatives; similarly, a maximum age limit of 70 years be laid down to preclude senility. Also, the pre-condition of a graduate degree (or equivalent), duly recognised and verified by the HEC, be re-introduced for election at any level

3) No election to the provincial assembly, and the seats in the National Assembly allocated to that province, shall be held unless local body elections have been held in the province within the preceding 12 months

4) No person shall stand for election to any assembly from more than one constituency; this shall prevent multiple by-elections with their concomitant cost

5) Voting be conducted through electronic voting machines connected via the internet to NADRA and ECP servers

6) An election among candidates in a constituency for the national and provincial assemblies shall not be deemed valid unless at least 50 per cent of the registered voters in that constituency cast their vote. Should such an event occur, a fresh round of voting be conducted the following day; in case the impasse still persists, the constituency shall remain without representation till a by-election is conducted within three months

7) A candidate for election to the national and provincial assemblies shall not be deemed to be successful unless he/she secures at least 50 per cent of the votes cast in that constituency. In case no candidate secures the requisite number of votes, a run-off election between the two candidates securing the highest number of votes shall be held three days after the initial round of voting

8) Elections shall be followed by the swearing in of the president and governors within 10 days, who shall summon the assemblies within the next five days. The first order of business of the assemblies shall be the election of the speaker and leaders of the House and the opposition.

Omar Chaudhry

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.