ISLAMABAD: Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), while stressing the need for political consensus on critical electoral reforms ahead of general elections, has urged the political parties to agree on regulating political finance, refining results management, devising mechanisms for overseas voting, and catering to representativeness issues in the next general elections to make them controversy-free.
FAFEN believes such a political dialogue will help reduce political tensions in the country and will ensure the conduct of peaceful elections. FAFEN urged political parties to agree on a minimum, common and absolutely-must agenda for reforms.
Unless the political parties set aside their differences for upholding democracy and protecting its integrity through free, fair, and transparent elections, the country will continue to be embroiled in political instability having adverse effects on the already-fragile economy.
With only seven months left of the incumbent National Assembly, FAFEN considers it to be an opportune time for the political parties to make necessary changes to the electoral framework that can guarantee free, fair, transparent, and inclusive elections.
For the upcoming general elections to bring stability, FAFEN proposes the formation of a cross-chamber multi-party parliamentary committee, similar to the one setup in 2014 with representation from the Senate and the National Assembly. Despite political fragmentation at the time, the 2014 Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) was successful in developing a consensus on the reforms’ agenda, allowing the enactment of a unified election law.
The Elections Act, 2017, provided for relatively more autonomy to the Election Commission and introduced reforms in election processes. The committee, however, stopped short of addressing critical systemic issues such as improving representativeness, curbing the role of money in politics, and the use of technology in elections.
The election system in Pakistan is facing emerging challenges such as the increasing role of social media that has opened up new avenues for the use of money in elections in the form of third-party financing of political campaigns including from sources prohibited by the law.
Similarly, the parties need to decide on the modus operandi for facilitating voting by overseas Pakistanis, either through postal ballot or through the reservation of special seats for Pakistanis living abroad. Equally important will be legal measures to bind the Election Commission to scrutinise election results before the notification of the winners as a pre-requisite for the integrity of the election outcome as well as to minimise the post-election litigation.
Initiating concrete measures for electoral reforms will be in consonance with the undertaking by the leaders of the incumbent coalition government in the Supreme Court during the hearing on the suo moto notice against the National Assembly Deputy Speaker’s ruling on the resolution of no-confidence against the former prime minister and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly.
On April 7, 2022, the leaderships of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan Peoples Party committed before the apex court that they would introduce electoral reforms ahead of the general elections. However, the government has not introduced any tangible reform package in the parliament except the legislation restoring the original provisions of the Elections Act, 2017 regarding overseas voting and electronic voting machines.
Talking about the importance of effective checks on political finance, FAFEN said the political parties need to build consensus on strengthening the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017 concerning the use of money in elections.
FAFEN has recommended the government take following steps for effectively checking the political finances, (i) a clear definition of the election expense should be defined; (ii) consideration of third-party financing in form of donations; (iii) material support as expenses incurred by the candidate without any condition; (iv) mandatory scrutiny of candidates’ election expenses by the election commission; (v) any punitive consequences for falsifying or withholding information in expense returns; (vi) a limit for the political parties’ financing of election campaigns; and (vii) legal mechanisms to regulate election expenses incurred directly by the candidates or the political parties or their supporters using online means and social media.
Election-specific regulation of social media is also required as the absence of a legal framework for regulating online political campaigning, advertising, fund-raising, and third-party financing remains a challenge to the integrity of the election process as well as its outcome.
Several countries have been struggling with the impact of fake news, hate speech, disinformation, counterfactuals, and misrepresentations on the elections during recent years, all having consequences on the election process and voter choice.
The existing regulations and campaign expense caps do not adequately cover the campaigning and spending on social media by political actors from inside or outside the country. Without the political contenders agreeing upon the extent and means of regulations on social media, the upcoming elections may see far more complex controversies than witnessed ever before in the country’s electoral history.
Enhanced scrutiny of result management is one of the critical reforms the country needs and FAFEN urges political parties to create provisions in the Elections Act, 2017 for greater control of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in managing the election results that are overseen by the officials seconded by the executive and judiciary, right from polling station to the consolidation stages.
The law should be amended to bind the Election Commission for methodical scrutiny of constituency-specific election documents and forms including the entire result trail before the final notification of the returned candidates.
Such scrutiny will help minimize post-election disputes and will reflect the spirit of the Constitution and the law that require the Election Commission to act as the custodian of the integrity of the election process and its outcome so as to ensure that the will of the people is truly translated in forming any government.
FAFEN has prepared a detailed methodology for such scrutiny based on the existing law and the rules, which will be released shortly.
Facilitating overseas voting the government should take a comprehensive legal and procedural framework governing the mechanics of overseas voting and the mode of their representation in the legislatures requires political agreement.
In absence of a reliable technological solution, extending the right to the postal ballot to overseas Pakistani voters may be a workable idea.
Moreover, while the political parties contemplate the measures for facilitating overseas voting, they should also consider facilitating voting by internally displaced citizens who reside in other cities for work, through postal ballots.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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