ECP asked to prepare better questionnaire for candidates

SHC directs to prepare questions in consultation with the Council of Islamic Ideology.

KARACHI:

An election tribunal has observed that the returning officers’ conduct during scrutiny of the candidates’ nomination papers - to judge their eligibility and qualification under Articles 62, 62, including their knowledge of Islamic teachings - was not in consonance with the constitution.

Apart from the candidates, the situation also dismayed an election tribunal in the Sindh High Court, which has decided more than 100 appeals against the ROs decisions.

Headed by Justice Faisal Arab, the two-member tribunal while deciding an appeal, noted that the ECP had failed to lay down guidelines in this regard. “Without realising the implications of its inaction, the ECP has (of course entirely unintentionally) brought about a situation where article 62(1)(e) had been applied in a discriminatory manner and in violation of article 25.”

The tribunal noted that the ECP in consultation with the Council of Islamic Ideology should develop a set of questions - not less than 20 and more than 40 - relating to the sort of knowledge of Islamic teachings that is adequate for the purposes of Article 62(1)(e).

The list of questions should be posted in advance on the ECP’s website. The returning officers would be bound to ask random questions only from this list, not more than five.

The tribunal noted that if a candidate answered majority of the questions (three in the example given), then he should be considered as having sufficient qualifications required in terms of Article 62(1)(e). If he fails to do so, then the RO should ask him another set of questions randomly selected from the list. If the candidate is still unable to answer majority of the questions in the second set, then he can be regarded as not having an adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings within the meaning and for the purpose of article 62(1)(e).

Allowing the candidate’s appeal, the tribunal directed its registrar to send a copy of this decision to the ECP so that remedial measures in line with the directions can be put in place for future elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2013.