LAHORE:
Apropos Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry’s statement that the ECP is “an administrative body, mandated only to implement the laws enacted by the parliament”. It is the Constitution which is the supreme book of laws and principles.
The Constitution creates Parliament through a process of elections which are to be conducted by an independent constitutional institution called the Election Commission of Pakistan. The ECP is created through a process defined by the Constitution and it is their constitutional responsibility to ensure that the tools used in the balloting process are to its satisfaction, and secrecy of the ballot ensured and not compromised. The executive has no role in the conduct of elections, except to provide them with every assistance required to accomplish their task. In the interim period of elections, the ECP assumes administrative authority over state institutions to ensure transparency and integrity of the process. Similarly, there exists another independent constitutional institution called the judiciary with powers to interpret the Constitution and adjudicate in case of a dispute to ensure that the letter and spirit of the constitution is not violated. The executive branch of the government is one of the three pillars of state which derive powers from the Constitution. Parliament, judiciary and executive have to work within their defined confines laid down in the constitution. When the Constitution states that the ECP will be an independent constitutional body, the matter rests there.
The ECP exists to carry out free and fair elections. It is the constitutional responsibility of the ECP to ensure that the tools used to carry out free and fair elections must be secure and their secrecy ensured, unless the law states otherwise.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
