Electoral panel abandons proposal for party ban

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar announced on Thursday that the Electoral Reforms Committee has dropped a proposal that suggested granting parliament supreme authority over matters related to the dissolution of a political party or the membership of a party member.

Speaking to the media after a committee meeting, Tarar stated that the committee has completed 99% of its work, with the remaining 1% comprising non-politically contentious issues.

Tarar commended the committee chairman, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, for successfully achieving consensus on matters that were previously unresolved. He highlighted that the credit for this consensus goes to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq's leadership.

The committee, established by the coalition government, recently conducted its first working session. During the in-camera deliberations, the committee reviewed approximately 70 proposed amendments to the Elections Act of 2017. These proposals, submitted by various political parties, covered topics such as delays in announcing election results and the role of parliament in the decision to ban a political party.Tarar explained that during the committee's third in-camera meeting, the chairman skillfully resolved 99% of the issues, leaving only technical and legal matters to be addressed.

Senator Ali Zafar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who was unable to attend the initial meeting but participated via video link on Thursday, will contribute his suggestions regarding the remaining matters.

Regarding the proposal to grant parliament the power to dissolve a political party instead of the Supreme Court, Tarar stated that this issue had been dropped during a previous committee meeting.

In the committee's first meeting last week, Ayaz Sadiq expressed the intention to expedite the electoral reform process, aiming to complete the task before the present assemblies' tenure ends in August. According to the Constitution, if an assembly completes its term, elections must be held within 60 days. However, if an assembly is dissolved before completing its tenure, elections must take place within 90 days.

Following the committee's working session on Tuesday, Tarar confirmed that there would be no extension to the National Assembly's term but left the possibility of early dissolution open.

Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, representing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), revealed that his party proposed dissolving the remaining assemblies on August 8, four days prior to the completion of their five-year term. This proposal aimed to provide an additional 30 days for political parties to conduct their election campaigns.

Tarar and Qamar both emphasized that a decision on the early dissolution of the assemblies has not yet been made. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also affirmed that the assemblies' terms would not be extended but did not explicitly state whether they would be dissolved earlier.