ECP’s gigantic task

The ECP is in need of buckling it up, shun the impression that is tilted towards either side of the political divide

The Election Commission of Pakistan is under the spotlight. It is seized with a Herculean task to undertake delimitations of electoral constituencies as per the changed geographical configuration of the county under the 26^th Amendment, and do so earnestly in the shortest possible time-frame. This task couldn’t have come at a more pressing time. The political mosaic of the country has taken a sharp shift, and the sitting parliament is truncated with the resignation of almost half of the members of the assembly. Moreover, there will be a change in the number of total seats to both the federal and the provincial governments with the merger of FATA in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Last but not least is the riddle that these delimitations will have to be carried out on the basis of 2017 census results, and the ECP has to ensure that reservations aired by the people and political parties are promptly taken on board. While this new delimitations exercise was supposed to be done on the basis of a new proposed digital census this year, as ordained by the ousted government, it would be a tough task to recollect the manual data and get it done to the satisfaction of all and sundry.

It is, however, consoling that the ECP has come up with a schedule, and has vowed to publish the final list of constituencies by August 3. This includes the entire gamut of delimitations as well as taking into account the feedback from all the stakeholders. As the ECP gets down to business, one of its challenges will be to introduce electronic voting machines and the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis as legislated by the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. As per law, there is no going back on it until and unless the new government legislates contrary to it in due course of time.

This new anticipating twist and turn could further delay the process of holding general elections. What has been noticed is that the ECP was a step back in dispensing its constitutional duty of holding elections within 90 days, whenever it was asked to do so. Its submission before the Supreme Court that it is not prepared to deliver in due mandated time is a constitutional lax. The ECP is in need of buckling it up, and at the same time shun the impression that is tilted towards either side of the political divide.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2022.

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