Dr Tariq Hassan, attorney and advocate, has in a petition, urged the Chief Election Commissioner to exercise his powers under the law to get all political detainees released to ensure free and fair election, whatever may be the possibility of that miracle happening under the present pseudo-political setup.
In his petition sent on November 27, he has pointed out that Barrister Ahsan and some other political detainees are still in unlawful detention despite the fact that elections are scheduled to take place in less than six weeks. This does not give the detainees much time to visit their constituencies. Their continued inability to access their electorate is giving an unfair advantage to their opponents. This situation needs to be rectified immediately.
The Election Commission is required to ensure fair elections. Section 103(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 empowers the Election Commission to "issue such instructions and exercise such powers, and make such consequential orders, as may in its opinion, be necessary for ensuring that an election is conducted honestly, justly and fairly, and in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules" (emphasis added). This requirement and the ensuing powers are consistent with the well-established principles of democracy.
The political parties have, therefore, been legitimately demanding a neutral caretaker government to hold free, fair, and transparent elections. While the demand of a neutral caretaker government has not been met, the Election Commission is nonetheless expected to ensure that all contesting political parties will have a level playing field in the elections by the release of all political prisoners.
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