Fair elections: Experts say ECP lacks capacity to exercise authority

India’s former chief election commissioner says meanwhile trust on election commission has increased

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) may be as independent and powerful as India’s poll supervisory  body but it lacks the capacity to enforce its authority.  This was the crux of a discussion at a roundtable in which experts from both the countries participated.

Speaking on the occasion, India’s former chief election commissioner Dr S Y Quraishi who was invited at the roundtable said the poll commission in his country has so far conducted 16 national and 360 state level elections and has never missed a deadline.  “Meanwhile, the trust on the election commission has increased over time,” he said.

He said integrity and intentions of the poll body have never been doubted even though India is the one of the most complex, diverse and multi-faceted countries in the world. “This is mainly because the electoral process in India is inclusive with universal and equal voting rights for all,” Quraishi said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2015.