ECP empowered to decide election date: Bill aimed at reducing disqualification term passed by Senate

ISLAMABAD: The treasury side in the Senate Friday managed to get the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023, a controversial legislative draft that aims to reduce the disqualification term of parliamentarians and provincial assemblies’ members, disqualified under Article 62(1) (f), from lifetime to five years, passed from the house.

The bill empowers the electoral body to unilaterally announce the general elections date — a power that is currently vested in the president of Pakistan.

The house also passed three other private bills that respectively provide for increasing the salaries and perks of chairman and deputy chairman Senate, and all other senators.

Amendments to election law: work begins on ECP proposals

The treasury faced strong resistance from the opposition as soon as Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani allowed State Law Minister Shahadat Awan to move the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023 in the supplementary agenda.

Led by Leader of the Opposition in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem, the opposition lawmakers strongly protested against this bill. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) wanted to take the floor to record his views against this bill but he was denied the floor by Sanjrani.

In protest, the opposition senators staged a walkout from the house.

The bill was eventually passed by the house.

The bill seeks amendments in Section 232 of Elections Act 2017 which provide, “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, any other law for the time being in force and judgment, order or decree of any court, including the Supreme Court and a high court, the disqualification of a person to be elected, chosen or to remain as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) or a provincial assembly under paragraph (f) of clause (1) of Article 62 of the constitution shall be for a period not exceeding five years from the declaration by the court of law in that regard and such declaration shall be subject to the due process of law.”

It merits a mention here that Supreme Court ruled in April 2018 that disqualification under Article 62(1) (f) was for life.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Jehangir Khan Tareen, the architect of recently launched Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) were disqualified under Article 62(1) (f), respectively in July and December of the year 2017; Sharif in Panamagate case and Tareen in a case related to offshore companies.

Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023 provides for amending Section 57(1) of Elections Act 2017, stating that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), shall, by notification in the official gazette, announce date or dates for the general elections.

The bill also seeks amending Section 58 if the same law to allow ECP to issue elections’ schedule and make amendments in it wherever it deems necessary.

In April, this year, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, in his letters to the Senate chairman and Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf, proposed amendments in the Sections 57 and 58 of the Elections Act 2017— and that these amendments be placed before the parliament for its consideration— to empower the ECP to pick a date for general polls. These recommendations were reviewed by a parliamentary panel that approved the said proposals.

Meanwhile, the three private bills passed by the house were; Chairman Senate (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) Bill 2023, Deputy Chairman Senate (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) Bill 2023 and Members of Senate (Salaries and Allowances) Bill 2023—each bill moved by Kauda Babar.

Babar, on the floor of the house, claimed that these bills would not burden the national kitty. The house was adjourned till Monday.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023