Curious case of snatched nomination papers

The gates of the returning officer’s (RO) office were shut on PTI leader Moonis Elahi’s mother when she went to submit her nomination papers in Gujrat; former information minister Fawad Chaudhry’s brother was arrested when he tried to submit his brother’s papers in Jhelum while a PTI candidate was bundled up into a police van in Chakwal when he reached the office of the RO.

These are some of the cases where all the candidates or their relatives had just one objective: submit nomination papers within the deadline set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) so that they could contest the upcoming general elections scheduled for Feb 8, 2024. But little did they know that the simple act of submitting nomination papers would draw the wrath of the law enforcement officials and their moves would be thwarted with brutal force or sheer humiliation.

Amid allegations of pre-poll rigging, arresting of the candidates and snatching of nomination papers, the family members of the candidates as well as experts have sounded alarms over the fairness of the polls and demanded that the ECP must act now to ensure a level-playing field for all. The Gujrat incident surfaced when Moonis posted on X that his mother, who is the sister of PML-Q’s chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, was denied entry into the RO office.

Fawad’s brother, Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, confirmed to The Express Tribune that his brother, Faraz Chaudhry, was “abducted” when he went to submit the nomination papers of Fawad, saying Fawad had given him special power of attorney to submit his nomination papers. Faisal revealed that his brother was released just before midnight, sharing his and Fawad’s nomination papers were finally submitted for NA-60 and NA-61 after a hectic day.

“Who would accept a match if it’s not fair,” Faisal questioned. “The ECP has miserably failed. It appears from the events so far that the ECP has not been able to provide an equal opportunity to all the participants.” He said that the ECP’s job isn’t just to hold elections but to ensure that the polls are just and transparent, saying arresting of candidates and snatching of nomination papers makes one say that it is pre-poll rigging.

Raza Ahmad Rumi, a policy analyst, journalist and an author, said that concerns have been expressed by rights groups and political parties, especially the PTI, about the absence of a level-playing field as the country moves towards general elections.

One of the age-old instruments of pre-poll manipulation is denying party candidates the right to file their nomination papers, Rumi noted, saying numerous such cases have been reported from different parties of the country, especially in the big battle ground – the Punjab province, during the last 48 hours.

While this may not be not be a mass-scale crackdown, Rumi said, the message from the state authorities is clear: the “PTI will not be allowed to contest in a fair and equitable manner”. Since the May 9 violence against military installations, he said, the establishment apparently has decided to squeeze the political space for the PTI and its former chairman Imran Khan, who is currently in jail and entangled in multiple cases.

In such an environment, Rumi emphasised, the role of the ECP is crucial to create a fair and transparent election process. While the ECP leadership has repeatedly assured the country that the polls will be fair, its lackadaisical approach has raised many questions as well as allegations of bias.

“The ECP must act to protect its credibility,” Rumi said.

Having said that, he maintained, the chief election commissioner has also publically complained of personal attacks, including maligning his civil-servant wife since last year. Ironically, he added, he was appointed by the PTI government itself.

“Mr Khan’s style of politics and personalising political conflict has landed him in trouble vis-à-vis the three most important officer holders with a direct bearing on elections; ie the CJP, CEC, and COAS.”

Even if this is not the stated party policy, he added, its enthusiastic online supporters have resorted to relentless propaganda, widening the gulf and creating distrust between the PTI and the state institutions.

Professor Tahir Naeem Malik of NUML said that the “political exclusion model” was in full swing once again, noting that Pakistan has a long history of including the favourite candidates and excluding the non-favourite ones.

In response to the mistreatment of the candidates and others just ahead of the polls, the professor said: “Such incidents have raised questions about the sanctity of the whole process.”

Professor Malik noted that the PTI was facing a hard time because of the May 9 incidents, saying whatever was happening to the party and its leadership shows that there is no change in the policy.

“The message is strong and clear that there is no change in the policy regarding the PTI,” he concluded.