NA approves major changes in Elections Act

The National Assembly on Sunday passed the Elections Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 aimed at reducing the period of disqualification of a lawmaker to five years and empowering the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to set the date for polls without consulting the president.

The bill has already been passed by the Senate. After its passage from the National Assembly, it would be sent to the president for his assent.
Since Sadiq Sanjrani is the acting president in the absence of President Arif Alvi, he is likely to sign it without any delay.

Once, the bill is enacted as an act, its immediate beneficiary would be three-time former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) leader Jahangir Tareen, who were disqualified for life.

The Elections Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was presented in the National Assembly by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as a supplementary agenda, which was unanimously approved.

After the amendment to the Section 57 of the Elections Act, the power of the president to announce the date of the election has been withdrawn and given to the ECP.

Now, the ECP can announce the elections date without consulting the president.
After the amendment to the Section 58 of the Elections Act, the ECP will have the authority to issue and amend the election schedule. The bill also amends Section 232 of the Elections Act, which is related to disqualification of a parliamentarian.
According to the bill, the period of punishment for the crime, which is not fixed in the Constitution, the disqualification of a convict will not exceed five years. It stated, “Where no period is prescribed in the Constitution, the provisions of this bill will apply.”

Under the bill, a person convicted through a judgment, order or decree of the Supreme Court, high court or any other court, will be disqualified for five years from the date of the announcement of the judgment.

The bill also stipulates that the period of disqualification under Article 62(F) of the Constitution shall not exceed five years. It says that the person concerned will be eligible to become a member of parliament or a provincial assembly after that period.

Nawaz and Tareen are seen as the immediate beneficiary of the new legislation. Both were disqualified for life by the Supreme Court. After the disqualification, the two leaders were also removed from the party offices.

Later, taking to a private TV channel, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that there was no restriction on ECP from holding the next elections in October. “Parliament has given permission to the ECP to conduct general elections as per schedule,” he said.

He said that the government allocated funds for arranging the elections in a free and fair manner. In reply to a question about lifetime disqualification of political leaders, he said: “It is a human rights violation to disqualify the political leaders for life time.”

He told the interviewer that former prime minister Nawaz would reach Pakistan soon to lead the PML-N’s election campaign. “Nawaz Sharif faced false cases registered against him by the political opponents.”

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)