Poll body’s three top officials among delegation leaving for US to observe election. PHOTO: ECP.GOV.PK
A high-level delegation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be leaving for an official visit to the United States to observe the US elections scheduled on November 8. They will also take part in the UNDP Global Election Organisation Conference being held in Washington from November 6-10.
The delegation includes Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza, Abdul Ghaffar Soomro [member-Sindh], Justice (retd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi [member-Punjab] as well as the ECP secretary and a district election officer.
Departure of this ‘high-powered’ delegation to the US on Friday night will render the ECP practically non-functional till their return, expected on November 14.
The ECP is a constitutional body comprising the CEC and four members, each representing a province. The presence of at least three members completes quorum to perform any important function or to take any major decision. However, the scheduled visit will leave just two members back home.
In absence of the CEC, the senior most member takes charge as the acting CEC. In current hierarchy of the commission, member Sindh Soomro is the senior most followed by member Punjab Qureshi.
However, as both of them will also be accompanying the CEC, the member K-P Justice (retd) Irshad Qaiser will take oath as acting CEC. Interestingly, Justice (retd) Shakeel Ahmed Baloch, member Balochistan who is also the junior most in the ECP would administer oath of his senior colleague. At the same time, the secretary’s absence can also affect working of the ECP’s bureaucratic side.
ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob told The Express Tribune that the visit was an official engagement. He contradicted the notion that it would affect functioning of the commission, adding that no major event related to the ECP is scheduled during this period.
The ECP on Wednesday adjourned hearing of the speaker’s references against Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen till November 16. It has also deferred proceedings on petitions against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his close relatives on account of similar proceedings initiated in the Supreme Court.
According to the ECP officials, besides observing US presidential polls, participation in the UNDP Global Election Organisation Conference will provide an opportunity to senior electoral officials from around the globe to discuss election and voting from a comparative international perspective.
The event would bring together election officials, parliamentarians and diplomats from the world to observe and learn about the electoral system of different countries, they added.
However, they could not provide satisfactory justification of leaving of all these important officials at the same time on one official trip which would practically stop working of ECP for almost 10 days.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2016.
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