Election preparations: Parliamentary panel finalises electoral reforms
The report will be presented before Senate Committee on Monday.
The Parliamentary Subcommittee on Electoral Reforms finalised its report on Representation of Peoples Act PHOTO: APP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Parliamentary Subcommittee on Electoral Reforms on Wednesday finalised its report on the election commission’s proposed amendments to the Representation of Peoples Act 1976.
“The report has been completed and will most likely be presented before the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms on Monday, ahead of the National Assembly and Senate sessions, so that a bill [on electoral reforms] may be finalised and tabled before Parliament,” Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, the head of the subcommittee, told The Express Tribune.
Mashhadi, however, was not present in the subcommittee’s meeting on Wednesday. The only member who attended the meeting was Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Anusha Rehman. She confirmed the report had been completed and claimed the process of drafting a bill would be finalised in the next two days.
Responding to a question about the proposal of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which seeks to eliminate the President’s role in the formation of election tribunals, Mashhadi said the committee would discuss the issue on Monday as well. In its proposal, the ECP suggested it should constitute the tribunals in consultation with the chief justices of the concerned high courts, in place of the president.
When asked about ECP’s demand of a 30-day scrutiny period for nomination papers, he replied that a constitutional amendment would be needed in that regard. “A constitutional amendment would need two-thirds majority to pass, which is not possible at this time,” he maintained. Instead, Mashhadi added,
the subcommittee, in its report, proposed a 14-day scrutiny period.
Elaborating on the report further, the senator said his party’s recommendation of a ban on hoardings to provide a level playing field had been incorporated.
Meanwhile, Rehman told The Express Tribune that the subcommittee had also proposed a Rs100,000 fine for minor offences which are not prescribed in the law for the violation of the code of conduct. It had also decided that National Assembly candidates will have to deposit Rs8,000 and provincial assembly candidates Rs4,000 as security.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2013.
The Parliamentary Subcommittee on Electoral Reforms on Wednesday finalised its report on the election commission’s proposed amendments to the Representation of Peoples Act 1976.
“The report has been completed and will most likely be presented before the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms on Monday, ahead of the National Assembly and Senate sessions, so that a bill [on electoral reforms] may be finalised and tabled before Parliament,” Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, the head of the subcommittee, told The Express Tribune.
Mashhadi, however, was not present in the subcommittee’s meeting on Wednesday. The only member who attended the meeting was Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Anusha Rehman. She confirmed the report had been completed and claimed the process of drafting a bill would be finalised in the next two days.
Responding to a question about the proposal of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which seeks to eliminate the President’s role in the formation of election tribunals, Mashhadi said the committee would discuss the issue on Monday as well. In its proposal, the ECP suggested it should constitute the tribunals in consultation with the chief justices of the concerned high courts, in place of the president.
When asked about ECP’s demand of a 30-day scrutiny period for nomination papers, he replied that a constitutional amendment would be needed in that regard. “A constitutional amendment would need two-thirds majority to pass, which is not possible at this time,” he maintained. Instead, Mashhadi added,
the subcommittee, in its report, proposed a 14-day scrutiny period.
Elaborating on the report further, the senator said his party’s recommendation of a ban on hoardings to provide a level playing field had been incorporated.
Meanwhile, Rehman told The Express Tribune that the subcommittee had also proposed a Rs100,000 fine for minor offences which are not prescribed in the law for the violation of the code of conduct. It had also decided that National Assembly candidates will have to deposit Rs8,000 and provincial assembly candidates Rs4,000 as security.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2013.