Political Parties Joint Committee on Fata Reforms on Thursday expressed concerns over the non-implementation of five key recommendations presented by the committee in December 2012 and invited urgent attention of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to implement the recommendations for ensuring free, fair, transparent and accessible first ever party-based general elections in the history of Fata.
The Fata Committee met here for two days to present assessment of the pre-election environment in Fata and its vision for further political reforms. The committee highlighted many shortcomings in implementation of the Political Parties Order's extension to the region and on-going obstacles to their free operation in the tribal areas. Participants said that without implementation of the five key reforms proposed by the committee, questions would be raised on election in Fata.
The recommendations include (i) judicial officers should serve as returning officials (ii) NADRA and ECP should increase efforts to register voters, (iii) ECP should allow absentee voting for IDPs (iv) ECP should set up polling stations within 2km areas (v) ECP should engage directly with political party leaders. Briefing the media after the conclusion of two-day deliberations of the committee, Professor Mohammad Ibrahim, leader of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), said that as general elections were fast approaching, candidates of various political parties were actively campaigning for election on MNA seats to represent Fata voters in the National Assembly.
Apart from the 11 mainstream political parties (members FATA committee), 53 political parties leaders from the seven agencies and frontier regions of FATA were also invited in the meeting to discuss the realities of campaigning in Fata and the status of implementation of 2011 FATA reforms, including amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). The tribal political party leaders indicated that political agents, the security establishment and militants are all responsible for restricting their ability to operate freely in the region.
Ajmal Wazir, Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) said that in December 2012, FATA Committee presented five key recommendations requiring urgent action by the ECP to ensure fair and transparent general elections in Fata. Unfortunately, the ECP has thus far responded to only one of the five recommendations, as the Commission has recently made assurances that the 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be provided with polling stations in IDP camps as well as in the host communities where they now are living, he added. He further said that Fata Committee would monitor this process closely to ensure that ECP provides free and fair access to voting for all Fata IDPs.
During the two-day deliberations, political leaders agreed on 40 additional recommendations for free and fair elections in Fata and urged that many of them should be implemented before general elections. Some of the recommendations are as under: The government should monitor the implementation of the 2011 Political Parties Order extension and Frontier Crimes Regulation amendments. Political parties should be permitted to hold corner meetings without restrictions or advance notice. The requirement of asking permission or notifying the PA for all meetings in advance is not realistic and puts political parties at risk of attack. Large public gatherings or rallies should be notified one week in advance. No permission should be required. Political parties should be given free and open access and also necessary security to travel to and operate in Fata. Political parties should include Fata democracy and Fata reforms in their national party manifestoes for general elections. Political parties must not "sell" tickets for MNA seats. The Election Commission should implement and enforce a ban on this anti-democratic activity.
Reserved MNA seats for Fata women should be made, giving them the same special representation of 33 percent as in the rest of Pakistan. To ensure increased women's participation in elections, women's polling stations should be set up in all agencies and frontier regions. Pemra's jurisdiction should be extended to Fata. Access and security should also be provided to media so that they can enter Fata freely and better cover elections and political parties.
The political parties Code of Conduct published by the Election Commission of Pakistan must also apply to elections in Fata. All of these recommendations should be implemented and enforced immediately, prior to the day of general elections 2013. Ajmal Wazir said that these recommendations will be submitted for immediate consideration and action to the new caretaker government as well as the President of Pakistan, the Election Commission, NADRA, the SAFRON Ministry, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the FATA Secretariat.
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