Electoral reforms

With the electoral inquiry commission report now seen and presumably read by all concerned parties, it is time for a reckoning. There has been a grudging acceptance of the report by Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, coupled with a demand that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif apologise to the nation for the delay in setting up the inquiry. As Mr Khan is unlikely to apologise for the 126-day disruption he caused then, so is the prime minister unlikely to apologise for his actions either, and it is time for everybody in the political bear pit to move on. The judicial commission (JC) was perhaps stretching credulity somewhat when it said that “in large part (the elections) were organised and conducted fairly and in accordance with the law”. Be that as it may, in any number of thoroughly documented instances they were not, and that has to be a matter of concern. For many millions denied the vote, these were anything but free and fair elections, even if the rigging that happened might not have occurred as part of an organised conspiracy.

There is much that needs to be repaired and renovated about the electoral process in Pakistan, and the report of the commission provides a timely opportunity for that to happen. Time to stop the huffing and puffing and get down to brass tacks — and there are no tacks brassier than the Election Commission of Pakistan, which the report reveals as little more than an aggregation of incompetencies. There is no point in calling for heads to roll unless they are replaced by heads somewhat better furnished with a working brain. The prime minister has announced that he has directed senior officials to draw up an agenda of electoral reform. This is to be presented to parliament within two months. There is said to have already been considerable work done in this respect, and it is to be hoped that real reform does flow from a political imbroglio that nobody emerges from with much credit. As observed previously in these columns, the failures identified by the JC were as much of people as of processes, a fact we trust those charged with writing the reforms duly note. Let the next election be free and fair — for all.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2015.

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