Member qualification process tops ECP’s priority list

ECP issues notices to 23 MPAs for holding dual nationalities.

ISLAMABAD:

In a bid to curb dual nationals from sneaking into Parliament in the next elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to take strict measures to ensure that the disqualification rules in the Constitution are implemented in “letter and spirit”.

The ECP will meet today (Wednesday) and discuss how it can make sure that Article 62 of the Constitution (qualification for membership of Parliament) and Article 63 (disqualification for membership of Parliament) are implemented.

The development came on a day when the ECP also issued notices to around 23 members of provincial assemblies against whom former ambassador Asif Ezadi had filed a reference for holding dual nationalities.

The commission has summoned these politicians on February 7, all of whom belong to the Punjab Assembly.

A senior election official told The Express Tribune that the commission will hold a two-day session to thrash out ways to ensure the rules are followed. “The commission will examine the nomination papers and if any deficiencies are found, they will be improved,” the official said, adding that the aim was to make them more comprehensive.

Security for candidates will also be on the agenda.

Recruitment bans and govt concerns

The government had earlier expressed its concerns to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim over the decision to freeze all government hiring and ban the use of development funds for electioneering. Now, the federation has formally submitted its concerns to the ECP in writing.

Sources said that Law Minister Farooq H Naek has requested the CEC to lift the ban on fresh recruitments as well as the diversion of funds.

The commission will discuss this along with requests from several government departments for permission to continue recruitments on what they said was a “case-to-case basis”.

On January 30, the commission had asked the cabinet secretary, railways secretary, and Sindh’s chief secretary to explain why people were given jobs when it had said this could not happen.

Meeting with the opposition

Once internal matters are discussed, the commission will have a special session with representatives of opposition parties on the eve of February 7 to talk about their charter of demands.

Led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), 13 parties in the opposition had staged a token sit-in and a march in order to express solidarity with the commission and press it for their demands.

When asked whether the commission had the powers to take care of the opposition’s demand, the ECP official referred to Article 218 (3) of the Constitution and said, “After the announcement of the election schedule the constitution empowers the commission to take whatever action it deems necessary to hold free and fair elections”.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2013.