Election Commission secretary decides to quit

Refuses to cite any reasons; ECP seeks Rs3bn for local govt polls.

ISLAMABAD: Secretary Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan has decided to step down, in a move that can affect the crucial reforms that the commission has started to make the electoral process more credible and transparent.

“I am applying for leave preparatory to retirement (LPR),” Khan confirmed to The Express Tribune. Following the approval of the 18th constitutional amendment by parliament in April last year, the ECP is incomplete as all of its four members are yet to be appointed.

The chief election commissioner and the secretary were looking after the ECP affairs in the absence of members. Khan was to reach the age of superannuation in November this year and his decision to quit has raised eyebrows.

Khan refused to cite any reason for his decision. “Being a public servant it is not appropriate for me to comment on this matter,” he said. Khan has sent his application for LPR to the prime minister.

However, sources in the ECP said that Khan might have decided to quit due to his differences with CEC Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza. Khan is considered among the officials who want the ECP to be an autonomous body in order to ensure impartiality. He had opposed the CEC’s recent decision to put off the by-election for a provincial seat in Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Sources said that some ECP officials are trying to convince Secretary Khan to change his mind. And a top ECP official said that “the situation will become clear in a couple of days”.

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune has learnt that the ECP has demanded Rs3 billion from the government for holding the local government (LG) elections this year. The demand has been sent to the finance division in the form of revised budgetary estimates.

“We have demanded Rs3 billion for holding the local government elections,” a senior official in the Election Commission told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.

Under the 18th amendment, the ECP has been tasked to also hold LG elections besides general elections. “The LG elections are being planned this year, so we have requested the finance division to provide us the required funds,” the official said.

But interestingly, the provincial legislatures have yet not enacted a ‘uniform law’ on the nature of the next LG elections: whether they should be held on a party or non-party basis.

The Express Tribune has learnt that the ECP has also requested for the release of additional Rs2billion for preparing new computerised electoral rolls which are essentially needed for holding the elections.

Secretary Khan has confirmed that they have requested the government for the money, adding the commission needs Rs5 billion to prepare the new computerised electoral rolls and subsequently hold the LG elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2011.