Upcoming elections: PPP rejects new electoral rolls
Party leader Taj Haider asks ECP to restore the 1998 electoral lists.
KARACHI:
Expressing serious concern over the verification of electoral rolls Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) senior leader and General Secretary of the Sindh Chapter Taj Haider says that the PPP does not approve of the current electoral rolls.
In a letter written to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim, Haider demanded that the electoral rolls of 1998 be restored.
He also stressed upon the need to include the names of new voters along with their present addresses instead of their permanent addresses and their fresh pictures.
The PPP leader, however, congratulated the newly appointed ECP, saying his competence and integrity is exemplary and he can make the coming elections most authentic leaving no room for doubts.
He added that the work done by the Election Commission has had great shortcomings. These shortcomings and loopholes have made fair elections almost an impossible task.
Referring to the recent electoral rolls Taj Haider said that a space has already been created for anti-democratic forces to rig the next elections and manipulate the results. But he added that PPP was not merely going to confine itself to pointing out mistakes. Instead they will propose possible solutions to other political parties.
In his nine-page letter Haider praised the fact the National Database and Registration Authority is using the reliable electronic data in the National Identity Cards (NIC). Apart from the NICs the electronic data is also being used in national programmes like the Benazir Income Support Programme and Watan Cards.
Population census:
He said that when Benazir Bhutto was martyred in 2007 the country was in the grip of national elections, the Statistics Division of the Government of Pakistan undertook a ‘secret’ exercise to manipulate population demarcations (charges/blocks/circles) with ulterior political motives.
He said that when the actual house counting exercise started there was a host of complaints. “Home numbers were put even on shops and electric motor pump cabins in buildings, while large areas were simply not visited by the enumerators. Referring to the directives issued by the Sindh CM he said, “Shah Sahib instructed the officials of census that 1998 demarcations of blocks and circles should be followed, but all went in vain.
Taj Haider noted that the office of the provincial Census Commissioner in its report to the federal government raised serious objections over the exercise they had conducted and stopped the next phase of population count.
“This is a rejected house count exercise from which the Election Commission chose to make the electoral rolls and asked NADRA to give CNIC numbers against the highly doubtful House Count numbers,” he said.
Suggesting the remedies he said that the ruling party and other likeminded parties wanted to restore the 1998 demarcations of charges, blocks and circles.
He also suggested having photo of the voter in the electoral rolls.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have brought about a revolution in the electoral process. They are cost effective, simple to use, consume much less time per voter and make occupation of polling stations by force or bogus voting ineffective. He demanded the same technology in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2012.
Expressing serious concern over the verification of electoral rolls Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) senior leader and General Secretary of the Sindh Chapter Taj Haider says that the PPP does not approve of the current electoral rolls.
In a letter written to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim, Haider demanded that the electoral rolls of 1998 be restored.
He also stressed upon the need to include the names of new voters along with their present addresses instead of their permanent addresses and their fresh pictures.
The PPP leader, however, congratulated the newly appointed ECP, saying his competence and integrity is exemplary and he can make the coming elections most authentic leaving no room for doubts.
He added that the work done by the Election Commission has had great shortcomings. These shortcomings and loopholes have made fair elections almost an impossible task.
Referring to the recent electoral rolls Taj Haider said that a space has already been created for anti-democratic forces to rig the next elections and manipulate the results. But he added that PPP was not merely going to confine itself to pointing out mistakes. Instead they will propose possible solutions to other political parties.
In his nine-page letter Haider praised the fact the National Database and Registration Authority is using the reliable electronic data in the National Identity Cards (NIC). Apart from the NICs the electronic data is also being used in national programmes like the Benazir Income Support Programme and Watan Cards.
Population census:
He said that when Benazir Bhutto was martyred in 2007 the country was in the grip of national elections, the Statistics Division of the Government of Pakistan undertook a ‘secret’ exercise to manipulate population demarcations (charges/blocks/circles) with ulterior political motives.
He said that when the actual house counting exercise started there was a host of complaints. “Home numbers were put even on shops and electric motor pump cabins in buildings, while large areas were simply not visited by the enumerators. Referring to the directives issued by the Sindh CM he said, “Shah Sahib instructed the officials of census that 1998 demarcations of blocks and circles should be followed, but all went in vain.
Taj Haider noted that the office of the provincial Census Commissioner in its report to the federal government raised serious objections over the exercise they had conducted and stopped the next phase of population count.
“This is a rejected house count exercise from which the Election Commission chose to make the electoral rolls and asked NADRA to give CNIC numbers against the highly doubtful House Count numbers,” he said.
Suggesting the remedies he said that the ruling party and other likeminded parties wanted to restore the 1998 demarcations of charges, blocks and circles.
He also suggested having photo of the voter in the electoral rolls.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have brought about a revolution in the electoral process. They are cost effective, simple to use, consume much less time per voter and make occupation of polling stations by force or bogus voting ineffective. He demanded the same technology in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2012.