Fresh electoral rolls will be prepared before next polls: ECP secy

Babar Yaqoob says ECP much more empowered now and acting independently


News Desk October 16, 2017
ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob. PHOTO: File

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary said on Monday that fresh electoral rolls would be prepared for the next elections in line with the results of the latest census.

"The next elections will be conducted after constituencies are revised in accordance with the new census," Babar Yaqoob told the participants of a seminar in Islamabad, Express News reported.

He noted that it was a constitutional requirement that this process was carried out before the general elections next year now that the 6th Population and Housing Census 2017 had been conducted.

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Yaqoob maintained that the ECP was much more empowered now, and its authority even exceeded further than that of the election commission of India.

He pointed out that in India, elections were not conducted as per the whims of the military or judiciary.

"The election commissioner [in India] has the final word and all parties respect that decision," he added.

However, Yaqoob said the ECP was now satisfied with the powers and resources it had been recently been given.

He added that the electoral reforms law was a step in the right direction and the ECP could act independently instead of taking orders from the government.

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Speaking on the problems being faced by the ECP, the secretary said apart from two political parties, no other had bothered to respond to the commission's letter on the registration of 10 million female voters.

"The fact that 10 million female voters of the country are unregistered is our national failure," he remarked.

"It's unfortunate that political leaderships aren't taking this issue seriously."

Yaqoob said he could not comment on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf foreign funding case as the matter was being heard by the ECP. However, he added, the commission was authorised to initiate contempt proceedings.

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