A number of well-known personalities from the media, legal profession, civil society and former members of the superior judiciary and armed forces have formed a group to begin an independent monitoring of the coming general elections in Pakistan.
Facilitated by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (Pildat), the group, formally called "Citizens Group on Electoral Process," has been formed with the goal of contributing towards holding of free, fair and credible elections in Pakistan.
The group will work to ensure timely identification, communication and rectification of issues relating to the electoral processes. It will regularly monitor the performance of the institutions involved in the holding of elections and activities of political parties and candidates.
The group, which has no present affiliation with any political party, unanimously elected Justice Wajih-ud-Din Ahmed (Retd), a former judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, its chairman.
The other members of the group include Amirul Mulk Mengal, former chief justice Balochistan High Court and former governor of Balochistan, Arif Nizami, Editor, The Nation, Lieutenant General Asad Durrani (Retd), former director general ISI/MI, Ghazi Salahuddin, political analyst, Jang Group, Hameed Haroon, CEO Dawn Group of Newspapers, Hasan Askari Rizvi, political and defence analyst, Dr Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Chairman Gallup Pakistan, Mohammad Aslam Kazi, CEO Daily Kawish and KTN, Lieutenant General Moinuddin Haider (Retd), former governor Sindh and former interior minister, Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Pakistan, Muneer A. Malik, president Supreme Court Bar Association, Justice Nasira Javed Iqbal (Retd), former judge, Lahore High Court, Qazi Muhammad Jamil, former president Supreme Court Bar Association, Shafqat Mahmood, former civil service official, senator and minister, Shahid Hamid, former governor Punjab, Sikandar Hayat Jamali, former chief secretary, Balochistan, Talat Hussain, Director Current Affairs, Aaj TV and Ahmed Bilal Mehboob and Aasiya Riaz, Executive Director and Joint Director of Pildat respectively.
The group, which has started holding monthly meetings at Islamabad and the provincial capitals, has deliberated about the ongoing preparations of fresh electoral rolls and its various aspects.
The group has decided to write a letter to the chief election commissioner on the subject stressing that the early, correct and complete compilation of the electoral rolls is a sine qua non for the holding free, fair and transparent elections.