PPP vows to thwart digital census approval by CCI

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has made it clear that it will not support any attempt to get the digital census approved from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in the remaining few days of the incumbent government, which it claims will result in an inordinate delay in holding the general elections.

Former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary and Adviser to Caretaker Punjab CM Kanwar Dilshad has said that the CCI could accord its approval to the digital census and prompt the ECP to begin with the delimitation process, which would automatically delay the elections.

He said if the approval was accorded, elections would be presumed to be delayed till the time the delimitation of the constituencies was completed.

He said the timelines originally delineated by the CCI were not abided by, but that did not take away the authority of the body to approve the digital census, and issue a gazette notification accordingly.

Asked if the Constitution, which clearly spelled out the two timelines – one of 60 days in case of completion of the tenure and the other of 90 days upon dissolution – he said the said articles would not become an impediment, as the same Constitution, gave an exception in Article 254 providing a legal cover to the delay.

He said the report of digital census would also be placed before parliament.

Asked if the courts would allow this delay, Dilshad who sounded a bit miffed over the idea of bringing courts into the equation, said: “Why would we bring courts in matters where the system functions in the framework of the Constitution.”

PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi told The Express Tribune that granting approval to the digital census would cause an inordinate delay in holding the general elections and the party would not approve of it.

Asked if the PPP had taken a position on the digital census, Kundi, who is also a state minister, clarified that his party was yet to officially decide on the matter but in principle, their position was to ensure timely elections.

The state minister said according approval to the decision in CCI, and allowing the ECP to initiate delimitation process would not mean a delay of just four months, but it could take as long as eight months or even more.

Kundi noted that the Sindh chief minister had written to the premier regarding the province’s concerns over the digital census whereas the MQM had raised its concerns.

Kundi said he had also personally written to the prime minister apprising him of his reservations over the digital census in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

He opined that the matter should be left for the next government to deliberate, adding that they would not grant their “stamp of approval” to this decision given the potential delay it could cause.

When asked about the chances of the decision coming from the CCI sans the PPP, Kundi said that they had limited representation, chiefly via the Sindh CM, so the PML-N led government could have its ways even without them.

He said they did not know whether the issue would be on the CCI agenda, but generally there were concerns about it.

Kundi stated that the CCI meeting was expected in the first week of August, clarifying that his opinion mattered if the digital census was on agenda, adding that thus far, they did not have verified information in this regard.

When asked if the digital census was on the agenda of the CCI’s upcoming meeting, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said: “[They] have not discussed [it] so far.”

Former caretaker Punjab CM Hasan Askari said getting approval from the CCI was easier said than done, recalling that the 2017 census also could not get the nod of all parties, which prompted another head count.

He said Sindh had objected to the latest census and that other provinces might also come up with their concerns.

Askari also remained skeptical about the stature of caretaker chief ministers against the elected ones, saying both did not enjoy the same position in the CCI.

A senior lawyer, also part of the PM’s team, however, claimed that all the chief ministers in the CCI enjoyed the same stature, noting that during any CCI meeting it would make no difference whether one was a caretaker or an elected CM.

Meanwhile, senior MQM-P leader Mustafa Kamal stressed that the elections should be held according to the new census.

He said all the processes of census had been completed and that the ECP had also conducted an audit of the digital head count, to address their concerns. He said the audit had placated their concerns.

Kamal maintained that the government had around 20 days left, observing that if the delimitation process was undertaken on war footings, election could be held on time.

Knowing that the 2017 census was flawed, he said, holding election on its basis would make no sense and would cast a shadow on the transparency of polls.

The MQM-P leader said they were assured by the prime minister that the government had not taken any decision of holding elections on the old census.