Rule of the righteous?: Constitution silent on interim PM’s qualifications

Poll body witnesses record number of applications for election symbols.

ISLAMABAD:

The constitutional provisions, inscribed in articles 62 and 63, relating to the qualifications required to become a lawmaker, apparently do not apply to the office of caretaker premier and caretaker chief ministers.

This was stated by Election Commission of Pakistan officials during an interaction with reporters on Friday.

Article 62 spells out the qualifications necessary for membership to Parliament, which include conditions on citizenship, age, and strength of character, among others. Similarly, Article 63 addresses the reasons for disqualification.

“[The] Constitution is silent in this regard [attributes necessary to take up a caretaker role],” said Justice (retd) Shahzad Akbar, a member of the commission.

Therefore, it seems that although there is a strict criterion to determine eligibility to contest elections for Parliament, the caretaker prime minister – the chief executive of the country – can practically be anyone, including a dual national.

“[While] the procedure of caretakers is laid down in the Constitution, [there] is no mention of the qualifications or disqualifications for these people,” said another ECP official.



Charged imagery

Out of a total 227 political parties on the election commission’s list, a record 118 parties applied for representative election symbols to contest polls this year.

Data assessed on Friday, the last day to file applications, illustrated that all mainstream parties were on the list and most applied for the same symbols with which they previously contested the elections.

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a provisional application to seek additional time, until March 22, to complete its intra-party election process – one of the two mandatory conditions to apply for a symbol. With its application, PTI attached a list of office-bearers during the last polls.

Furthermore, the ‘crescent’ and the ‘sun’ – signs of hope – proved to be the most sought-after signs.

Around 16 parties requested the sun as their symbol. Similarly, the crescent was the top choice of 4 parties out of the 11 that included it on their list of options.



Additionally, it was also the first choice for Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehrik and the second choice – first being ‘the pen with an inkpot’ – for former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad’s Awami Muslim League Pakistan.

Under the law, if a party contested elections with a specific symbol in the past, it gets priority over others to the rights of that symbol. However, in the case of new symbols, if more than one party applied, a draw will be held.

Meanwhile, after printing 120,000 copies of new nomination forms, the ECP started dispatching them to the provincial commission offices, from where they will be distributed throughout the districts. The commission intends to complete this process before March 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2013.