Role of ECP

As the political opposition's call for early elections gathers momentum, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been put in a tight spot, directly by the Supreme Court which has ordered it to complete the electoral rolls by February 23, 2012 and vicariously by its own decision to go after the dual-nationality lawmakers. Reportedly, nearly 37 million of names in the list, which amount to about 44 percent of the total vote bank in the country, are believed to be invalid. But despite the apex court's almost four-year old direction to rectify the wrong, the ECP has not been able to prepare authentic electoral lists. "There will be bloodshed if the next general elections are held on the basis of bogus lists, as no political party will accept the results," observed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. As to what flavour the questionable results would discharge the PTI chief, Imran Khan, has already given a broad hint: 'We will jam the cities in case the existing invalid lists threw up losers as winners'. In the wake of the evolving political scenario, early elections appear to be a possibility, and should the government go for it say by April next year what will the ECP do, the Chief Justice asked the Commission, adding the delay on the part of the commission 'appeared to be deliberate'. And, there is a background to such a perception. The ECP has been dragging its feet on preparation of new lists, provoking a departmental row with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra). Way back in February this year the Authority found itself at cross-purposes with the Commission and that disagreement persists. We said it in this space before and would like to repeat that if real democracy hasn't flowered in Pakistan despite successive elections, the villain of the piece in this failure is the absence of an independent Election Commission, bogus electoral rolls and unchecked rigging. One more tainted general election and we would be done with. The Election Commission of Pakistan has to come up to this challenge by doing whatever it takes to ensure that electoral rolls for the next elections are not only absolutely clean of bogus entries but the deadline given by the Supreme Court is also met without fail. And the ECP announcement to de-seat the dual-nationality lawmakers is of course late in coming, but one would say better late than never. How and why a clear-cut constitutional provision barring dual-nationality holders from contesting election to federal and provincial legislatures was not invoked at the last polls remains an unsolved mystery - and now that the ECP has woken up to this responsibility it deepens that mystery. Article 63 (1)-c of Constitution unambiguously lays down that a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen, and from being, a member of the Parliament - the same is applicable to candidature for provincial assemblies - if, he/she "ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan, or acquires citizenship of a foreign state". Without going into the question of overseas dual-nationality Pakistanis' desire to serve their original homeland, a matter of great pride for the people of Pakistan, one has to recognise the limit on their candidature imposed by the Constitution. Remember, even when the said Article has been drastically revised by the 18th Amendment this particular clause has not been touched at all and it exists as the framers of the Constitution formulated. The bar on their eligibility stems from the situation of conflict of a fundamental principal of jurisprudence governing the question of divided loyalty. The allegiance oath one takes to acquire citizenship of his/her resident country cannot be divided. It cannot to be two at the same time, a challenge that comes in many a person's life. So, national interest cannot be held hostage to personal desires or convenience. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011