‘Electoral rolls cannot be finalised before May’
Chief Election Commissioner says unnecessary interference of institutions results in anarchy.
ISLAMABAD:
New electoral rolls for the 2013 elections cannot be finalised before May this year, said Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza on Monday.
During a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and political parties, Mirza explained why the commission was unable to comply with Supreme Court’s order to finalise the electoral rolls by February 23.
Mirza said that the responsibilities of every institution are chalked out clearly in the Constitution, and unnecessary interference of institutions results in anarchy. He added that the task of finalising new electoral rolls should remain with the ECP without interference from any institution.
He also said that if the electoral rolls were not finalised as per the law then it will be held against the Constitution.
Secretary Election Commission Ishtiaq Ahmed, talking to the media later during the day, said the preliminary voters list needs some time to be completed, but the finalisation process can only be done by the end of May.
Nadra will print the preliminary lists preferably in March, and the lists will be displayed for three weeks on at least 65,000 display centres, he added.
He also announced of the new SMS facility introduced by Nadra for voter registration, and added that the constituencies will remain the same as before in the upcoming elections.
The secretary added that the commission informed the court that it also wants to issue the rolls as soon as possible, and even announced of issuing them by December 2011, but there were many hurdles in the process.
In December last year, the Supreme Court ordered the commission to wrap up the process of finalising the electoral rolls and gave a final deadline of February 23. The order was handed out during the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, who had asked the court to remove fake votes from the electoral rolls.
The ECP in a statement had also admitted that some 37 million votes were bogus and could not be verified.
New electoral rolls for the 2013 elections cannot be finalised before May this year, said Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza on Monday.
During a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and political parties, Mirza explained why the commission was unable to comply with Supreme Court’s order to finalise the electoral rolls by February 23.
Mirza said that the responsibilities of every institution are chalked out clearly in the Constitution, and unnecessary interference of institutions results in anarchy. He added that the task of finalising new electoral rolls should remain with the ECP without interference from any institution.
He also said that if the electoral rolls were not finalised as per the law then it will be held against the Constitution.
Secretary Election Commission Ishtiaq Ahmed, talking to the media later during the day, said the preliminary voters list needs some time to be completed, but the finalisation process can only be done by the end of May.
Nadra will print the preliminary lists preferably in March, and the lists will be displayed for three weeks on at least 65,000 display centres, he added.
He also announced of the new SMS facility introduced by Nadra for voter registration, and added that the constituencies will remain the same as before in the upcoming elections.
The secretary added that the commission informed the court that it also wants to issue the rolls as soon as possible, and even announced of issuing them by December 2011, but there were many hurdles in the process.
In December last year, the Supreme Court ordered the commission to wrap up the process of finalising the electoral rolls and gave a final deadline of February 23. The order was handed out during the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, who had asked the court to remove fake votes from the electoral rolls.
The ECP in a statement had also admitted that some 37 million votes were bogus and could not be verified.