ECP decides to prioritise Third Strategic Plan

With new management in place, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to prioritise the objectives envisioned in the ECP's 3rd Strategic Plan that was launched in November last year but could not be pursued as the commission was left dysfunctional following the retirement of CEC former Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza in December 2019.

On November 27, 2019, the ECP launched its 3rd Strategic Plan (2019-2023), which strived to "deliver inclusive and credible elections that people trust" and "to hold free, fair and transparent elections that truly reflect the will of the people in democratic processes."

However, the work on the strategic plan remained stalled due to the retirement of the CEC, Muhammad Raza, in the first week of December, leaving the ECP dysfunctional due to the absence of a regular CEC and two members.

But with the arrival of the new ECP management last month including CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja and two new ECP members, Nisar Ahmed Durrani (Balochistan) and Shah Muhammad Jatoi (Sindh), the formation of the ECP has been completed and the new management has decided to prioritise the 3rd Strategic Plan, the Business Recorder has learnt.

Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi and Irshad Qaiser are already the ECP members from the Punjab and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The ECP has listed six guiding principles and 11 pillars in the 3rd Strategic Plan: The guiding principles are: independence and impartiality; integrity and accountability; efficiency; transparency; inclusiveness; and service-mindedness and professionalism.

The pillars are: legal framework, electoral integrity and public perception, institutional development, training and capacity development, election operations, budget, finance and procurement, voter registration and participation, information, communication and electoral technologies, electoral complaints and dispute resolution, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion, and monitoring, evaluation and research.

Prior to the launch of the 3rd Strategic Plan, the ECP launched 1st Strategic Plan (2010-2014) and 2nd Strategic Plan (2014-2018).

However, the ECP remained under sharp criticism from political parties, electoral watchdogs, civil society and public circles for failing to achieve key targets envisioned in both the previous strategic plans to ensure free and fair elections including the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and biometric voting machines (BVMs) in the general elections.

Although, the ECP used the EVMs and the BVMs at some polling stations during the by-elections held at certain seats of the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies, the ECP's target to introduce EVMs and BVMs in the next general elections, scheduled in 2023, appears to be a challenge due to financial constraints and capability of the commission to deal with technical hitches involving electronic voting, sources in the ECP told Business Recorder.

The ECP sources said the introduction of the EVMs and BVMs in the general elections was listed in the eighth pillar of the ECP's 3rd Strategic Plan, which reads, "Information, communication and electoral technologies."

The sources said that the ECP could achieve the target of introducing the EVMs and BVMs to a significant extent in the next general elections (scheduled in 2023) provided that all the necessary support was rendered by the federal government on a permanent basis.

In this regard, insiders said, organisations such as the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Finance Ministry had key roles to play for technical support and unhindered supply of funds respectively.