Government given 12 days to appoint ECP members

ISLAMABAD: The top court has given the federation till July 27 to appoint the four new provincial members of the election commission in place of the four who retired last month.

On Thursday, a three-judge apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took up the suo motu case over the dysfunctional Election Commission of Pakistan, whose members retired more than a month ago on June 12.



Additional Attorney General (AAG) Waqar Rana, representing the federation, told the judges that consultations for the appointment of new members were under way with the opposition leaders in view of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment, which was passed on June 10.

The chief justice observed that the institution had been left useless without the appointment of new members. “We are not concerned with the consultation between opposition and the ruling party leaders. Enough is enough,” he said.

The top judge questioned why the government waited for completion of the terms of the ECP members as new members should have been appointed before June 12 in the first place. “We won’t allow you (the government) to play with this as it is hampering the whole institution,” he noted.

The AAG assured the court the ECP members would be appointed before July 27.

The chief justice said the purpose of the suo motu notice was that the election commission should not remain non-functional.

The hearing was then adjourned till the first week of August.

Electoral reforms

The same bench hearing the implementation of election reforms judgment directed the ECP to consult all the political parties on its proposals and submit a detailed report on the next hearing.

The ECP secretary told the court that the commission had drafted some proposals for bringing about electoral reforms.

The election body has proposed banning wall chalking, posters and banners, billboards, public rallies during elections and allowing only corner meetings. To effectively control, monitor election expenses and curb corrupt practices, there shall be a single bank account opened only for the purpose of elections.



The ECP has also suggested that a new code of conduct should require mandatory compliance of all political parties and contesting candidates, failing which the ECP may declare an election void for illegal practices in violation of Article 218(3) of the Constitution.

The ECP secretary told the SC all these proposals would be shared with major political parties for achieving consensus to formulate a model code of conduct.

During the hearing, PTI’s counsel Ahmed Awais submitted the court had already given its verdict pertaining to expenditures at the time of elections. He also pleaded with the judges that holding of public rallies during elections should be banned.

At this, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed remarked if all election activities were to be stopped, then the elections should also be halted.

He also wondered if election-related advertisements were run only on the state-owned television, then who will watch it.

The hearing has been adjourned for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2016.