A positive step forward

We need to resolve problems within our voting system &any inquiry carried out by the commission will help achieve this

Shooting down the views of his own party members and other political leaders, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has opted to move ahead with the setting up of a judicial commission to probe allegations of rigging in the 2013 general election. These allegations have lingered now for a period approaching two years. An agreement between the PML-N and the PTI to set up a commission was reached on March 20. The prime minister has now announced that the ordinance that will enable this body to be set up will be issued before March 30. To do so, the prime minister attempted to create a political consensus by calling the leaders of all key political parties to his chamber in the National Assembly. However, it is understood that all major parties generally opposed the move although most decided to back it in the end in the interest of democracy. The strongest opposition was voiced by the MQM, which stated such a body would not be constitutional. Mr Sharif, however, chose wisely to abide by his agreement with the PTI and to go ahead with the formation of the commission.



There was also discussion at the meeting about the possibility of the commission being challenged in the Supreme Court. Legal experts believe that in such a situation, the Court could reject the commission leaving the PTI to battle for it. This, however, is something for the future. Right now we can only warmly welcome the fact that a decision has been taken to fairly look into what happened during the 2013 poll. Certainly, quite beyond political realities, we need to get to the bottom of this. The question has remained open for too long. It is unfortunate that so many political parties, at least initially, believed that there should be no effort to determine if rigging took place and on what scale. Given this, the PML-N’s decision is welcome.

Certainly, we need to resolve the problems within our voting system and any inquiry carried out by the commission will help achieve this. The commission is, therefore, to be welcomed as a positive step forward. The next steps will follow from this point on.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  26^th,  2015.

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