ECP received nearly 7,000 nomination papers by midnight Sunday; exact number to be confirmed today.
ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: As the deadline for the submission of nomination papers passed on Sunday, the Election Commission of Pakistan vowed that each and every form would undergo the most rigorous scrutiny in the country’s electoral history.
“Nomination papers will not be scrutinised in the usual manner … each candidate will be checked for all requirements for eligibility very strictly,” said ECP’s Director General of Information Technology Khizer Aziz.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, three of the country’s top institutions – State Bank of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau and Federal Board of Revenue – will screen candidates’ backgrounds for criminal conviction, loan default, tax evasion and other
financial irregularities.
The scrutiny process is set to formally begin today (Monday) with returning officers (ROs) receiving assessment certificates from the ECP for candidates who submitted nominations by midnight Sunday. As the scrutiny goes on, the three institutions would continue to provide ROs with details on the candidates that have filed papers to contest the upcoming elections.
Nearly 7,000 nomination papers had been received by ROs all over the country by Sunday midnight, ECP officials told The Express Tribune. The process of confirmation was underway at the time this report was filed. The exact number of nominations filed will be revealed on Monday, they added.
The officials said that more than 55% of nomination papers forwarded to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), SBP, FBR and NAB had been assessed already and returned to the ECP with feedback. These will be forwarded to respective ROs starting Monday morning for scrutiny, they added.
After assessing a candidate, each institution issues a certificate. NAB is screening candidates for criminal conviction or involvement in any form of corruption, while FBR is scrutinising their tax records. SBP, meanwhile, is checking whether they have any unreturned loans to their names.
Through an internal link, all three institutions were linked to the ECP. The process of sending and receiving nomination papers and the assessment certificates ran without any break. The ECP has named it the Candidate Assessment System.
“It is quick, safe and reliable,” said an ECP official.
After receiving the certificates, the ROs will inform candidates about the results of the scrutiny after April 7.
The ECP has already published the list of fake degree holders among the former members of National Assembly. Educational qualifications, however, are not a condition for contesting the elections this time.
ECP officials said that from the received nomination papers, more than 300 were uploaded on the commission’s website for public scrutiny. More were on the way as they were being received.
“These forms are not meant for ROs. These are for public scrutiny, for the people to see what their candidates have stated in their forms,” said Aziz, an ECP official. He added that the commission’s experts were working on putting all the nominations forms on the website so that voters could see them.
The decision of ROs will be separate and will be based on the scrutiny of the institutions, the official added.
Earlier, the deadline for submission of nomination papers was extended from March 29 to March 31 and later from 4pm to 12am.
The ECP officials said that the commission received over 15,000 forms in the last elections while the number was almost half this time. “It was because of the detailed scrutiny process and the detailed form,” said one official.
Under its strict monitoring, some hopefuls may not even have to wait till the end of the scrutiny period before they get rejected. Election authorities have directed ROs to reject the nominations of any prospective candidates who violate the code of conduct and resort to aerial fire, for instance.
Notables line to file papers on seventh day
On the seventh day to file nomination papers, hundreds including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother, former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, lined up before ROs in different constituencies to submit their forms.
Supporters of different parties chanted slogans and garlanded their leaders as they entered sessions courts accompanied by drumbeats.
Nawaz filed his papers for NA 120, while Shahbaz submitted forms for NA 129, PP 159 and PP 161. Notable leaders apart from Nawaz and Shahbaz included Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan (NA 126), Hamza Shahbaz Sharif (NA 119, PP 142), Khawaja Salman Rafique (NA 123, PP 144),former cricketer Sarfaraz Nawaz (NA 126) and Shafqat Mehmood (NA 125, NA 126, NA 127).
Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2013.
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