LB polls within SC deadline will be a miracle
Holding elections in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan will be nothing less than a herculean task.
Holding elections in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan will be nothing less than a herculean task. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court ruling on Friday that has set dates for three provinces to hold local government elections has set off alarm bells – and for good reason too.
Holding elections in Sindh on November 27 and Punjab and Balochistan on December 7 will be nothing less than a herculean task for all concerned given the many pressing legal and technical challenges. A similar order is expected for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the federal capital. Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yaseen Mailk is already in hot water for not fulfilling the promise of holding polls in cantonment areas.
While the dates given were technically agreed to by the provinces, which actually floated these dates earlier in the case themselves, there are a number of technical issues that would be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome within the time frame given by the SC – which may render the entire exercise deeply controversial.
Legal front
There are some requisites that must be met before holding the polls. Important among them are: legislation, delimitation and framing of rules. Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have gone through only one phase – that of legislation – by passing their respective local government acts. They are still in process of delimitation while they are yet to frame the rules to make the legislation practically executable.
One small example of necessary rules is that of filing applications. Prospective candidates will have to file their nomination papers on prescribed forms – the format of which is to be explained in the rules. Similarly, the system of addressing complains, election symbols and many working aspects are explained in the rules, which are yet to be framed by any province.
Delimitations
Even if, through a gargantuan effort, the rules are framed, there is another, bigger hurdle. Though the last local bodies system expired in 2009, none of the provinces made any attempt to get ready for next polls or system. The last polls, held in 2005 under then military strongman Gen Pervez Musharraf, were mired in questionable delimitations, which were not accepted by the parties that are currently in power.
Moreover, the population and number of registered voters have increased during this period, and many new localities have developed throughout the country, especially in the cities. It is likely that many voters will be disenfranchised if these adjustments are not made – especially given that local government elections are more of a micro exercise than general elections. Such small problems are magnified in this exercise.
For this year’s general elections, the election commission had made a voters list on the basis of new census blocks earmarked by during the housing census a couple of years back. Now the total census blocks stand at 140,000 while under 1998 census, on the basis of which 2005 local government polls were held, there were a total of 102,000 census blocks in the country.
This discrepancy must be matched. The options are that either the ECP goes back to the electoral list in accordance with the old census blocks, or that the provinces go for detailed delimitations in accordance with the new housing census blocks. Both are time consuming exercises.
Challenges for ECP
Under the Constitution, it is responsibility of ECP to organise local government elections and arrange all relevant material and polling staff. Among many, one issue is of ballot papers. Once the process of filing of nomination papers, their scrutiny and other requirements are completed, a final list is published and only after that does the ECP send ballot papers for printing.
Under public procurement rules, every government organisation has to call tenders through advertisements in newspapers. This bidding takes around 15 days, at least. And the paper required is of no ordinary variety. To avoid rigging, a non-market paper with special features needs to be procured. Mostly, the successful bidder has to import such paper, which itself is a time-consuming exercise. The other option will be using local paper – but that will increase the chances of the printing of fake ballot papers and their usage in the polls.
The ballot paper problems don’t end there.
Even if the paper is procured, another major issue will be ensuring secure printing. For the local government elections, ballot papers of at least four colours will be used – different for general candidates, women, peasants and minorities and possibly even more categories. It is estimated that just for Punjab, 300 million ballot papers would be needed – and it is estimated that the combined capacity of two government printing presses – Printing Press of Pakistan and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, – cannot be more than 10 million a day. And that’s assuming 24-hour printing cycles.
To meet the deadline, the ECP would ultimately have to hire the services of private printing presses – which will compromise secrecy and increase chances of the paper falling into the wrong hands.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2013.
The Supreme Court ruling on Friday that has set dates for three provinces to hold local government elections has set off alarm bells – and for good reason too.
Holding elections in Sindh on November 27 and Punjab and Balochistan on December 7 will be nothing less than a herculean task for all concerned given the many pressing legal and technical challenges. A similar order is expected for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the federal capital. Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yaseen Mailk is already in hot water for not fulfilling the promise of holding polls in cantonment areas.
While the dates given were technically agreed to by the provinces, which actually floated these dates earlier in the case themselves, there are a number of technical issues that would be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome within the time frame given by the SC – which may render the entire exercise deeply controversial.
Legal front
There are some requisites that must be met before holding the polls. Important among them are: legislation, delimitation and framing of rules. Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have gone through only one phase – that of legislation – by passing their respective local government acts. They are still in process of delimitation while they are yet to frame the rules to make the legislation practically executable.
One small example of necessary rules is that of filing applications. Prospective candidates will have to file their nomination papers on prescribed forms – the format of which is to be explained in the rules. Similarly, the system of addressing complains, election symbols and many working aspects are explained in the rules, which are yet to be framed by any province.
Delimitations
Even if, through a gargantuan effort, the rules are framed, there is another, bigger hurdle. Though the last local bodies system expired in 2009, none of the provinces made any attempt to get ready for next polls or system. The last polls, held in 2005 under then military strongman Gen Pervez Musharraf, were mired in questionable delimitations, which were not accepted by the parties that are currently in power.
Moreover, the population and number of registered voters have increased during this period, and many new localities have developed throughout the country, especially in the cities. It is likely that many voters will be disenfranchised if these adjustments are not made – especially given that local government elections are more of a micro exercise than general elections. Such small problems are magnified in this exercise.
For this year’s general elections, the election commission had made a voters list on the basis of new census blocks earmarked by during the housing census a couple of years back. Now the total census blocks stand at 140,000 while under 1998 census, on the basis of which 2005 local government polls were held, there were a total of 102,000 census blocks in the country.
This discrepancy must be matched. The options are that either the ECP goes back to the electoral list in accordance with the old census blocks, or that the provinces go for detailed delimitations in accordance with the new housing census blocks. Both are time consuming exercises.
Challenges for ECP
Under the Constitution, it is responsibility of ECP to organise local government elections and arrange all relevant material and polling staff. Among many, one issue is of ballot papers. Once the process of filing of nomination papers, their scrutiny and other requirements are completed, a final list is published and only after that does the ECP send ballot papers for printing.
Under public procurement rules, every government organisation has to call tenders through advertisements in newspapers. This bidding takes around 15 days, at least. And the paper required is of no ordinary variety. To avoid rigging, a non-market paper with special features needs to be procured. Mostly, the successful bidder has to import such paper, which itself is a time-consuming exercise. The other option will be using local paper – but that will increase the chances of the printing of fake ballot papers and their usage in the polls.
The ballot paper problems don’t end there.
Even if the paper is procured, another major issue will be ensuring secure printing. For the local government elections, ballot papers of at least four colours will be used – different for general candidates, women, peasants and minorities and possibly even more categories. It is estimated that just for Punjab, 300 million ballot papers would be needed – and it is estimated that the combined capacity of two government printing presses – Printing Press of Pakistan and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, – cannot be more than 10 million a day. And that’s assuming 24-hour printing cycles.
To meet the deadline, the ECP would ultimately have to hire the services of private printing presses – which will compromise secrecy and increase chances of the paper falling into the wrong hands.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2013.