Fingerprint verification: Politically expedient, practically complex

“The duties of ECP have been defined in the Constitution and it cannot go beyond that,” says an ECP official.

ISLAMABAD:

While the apex court under Chief Justice Tassaduq Jillani expressed reluctance towards embarking upon the rigmarole that is the vote verification, the government has perhaps found itself a political solution.

A proposal floated by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan suggests that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) oversee thumb impression verification of voters, but the brainwave does not come without its own set of practical and legal challenges.

Although the commission has confirmed receipt of a formal request from the Ministry of Interior, a decision to accept it has not yet been made. One official said the chances of the body accepting the responsibility are slim as it cannot take on the task legally without an act of Parliament.

“The duties of ECP have been defined in the Constitution and it cannot go beyond that,” a senior official told The Express Tribune.

Commenting on the matter, Secretary ECP Ishtiak Ahmed Khan, hinting at a possible refusal, said, “This is not a simple job,” adding that the commission “is also a party in the matter”.

It was the ECP that asked the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to prepare the special magnetic ink for use during voting on the proposal of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra). During an earlier National Assembly session, the interior minister had said that these three were the parties in the issue.

“It would be inappropriate for the commission to oversee a process in which allegations are against it,” the ECP official continued.

“In case the fault is on our part, then the commission might try not to name its officials.” He felt the body should be allowed to remain neutral.

In order to substantiate his argument, he said that election tribunals have been set up based on the belief that the neutrality and independence of the commission should not be compromised. Otherwise, the commission can also hear complaints against itself on its own, he added.

In addition, he said that the commission was already understaffed and is busy conducting local government elections. This responsibility would only add to the already-present burden.

The probe

The ECP official suggested that three questions need to be probed: whether the PCSIR prepared magnetic ink as per instructions, whether the suggestions given by Nadra to PCSIR about specification of the ink were correct, and whether Nadra has the capacity to read thumb impressions of ballot papers.

Responding to a question, he said that “we have record with us that magnetic ink, as received from the PCSIR, was delivered to Returning Officers.” And if the ink was not used and replaced or the PCSIR did not prepared what we have demanded should be investigated, he added.

“The problem is perhaps on the part of Nadra,” he said, adding that Nadra is perhaps not capable of reading thumb prints as it claimed before the elections.He also said that the government should constitute an independent commission or a committee to probe the matter.

The legal tangle

Advocate Babar Sattar is of the view that the government simply cannot entrust this responsibility to the ECP. “The government will have to bring new law to do what it wants to do,” he said.

Sattar referred to the role of the ECP as defined in the Constitution as well as the Nadra Ordinance, saying, “All the government can do is make appointments in Nadra.” He said that, as a statutory body, Nadra enjoys financial, administrative and functional autonomy.

However, the government can introduce a new scheme which is not in the Nadra Ordinance and can also frame rules. “Having no powers other than that, it cannot give the responsibility to ECP unless there is new law or ordinance issued,” he added.

Citing Article 220 of the Constitution, he said that all authorities were to work to assist the ECP, so there is no need to give it administrative control of Nadra.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2013.