Domestic and foreign human rights and non-governmental organisations on Wednesday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to undertake urgent reforms for holding free, fair and transparent general elections, including the compilation of reliable and inclusive electoral rolls and transparent management.
In this regard, their representatives said that the ECP should establish transparency mechanisms, with full observers' access to results and immediate publication of all polling station results. Representatives of various organisation presented a joint briefing paper entitled 'Key Reforms for General Elections in Pakistan'. They included Aurat Foundation (AF), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCE), Free and Fair Elections Network (Fafen) and Democracy Reporting International (DRI).
Stressing upon the need for achieving the reforms agenda, they said that parliament should immediately begin inclusive work taking all stakeholders onboard, encompassing constitutional requirements and international law commitments. "Electoral issues identified in the briefing paper require renewed focus and reform interventions before the next general elections," highlighted senior representative of HRCP Nasreen Azhar at the press conference.
DRI's Country Director Vladimir Pran pointed out: "Most of the recommendations in the paper are based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Pakistan in 2010." He explained that reforms identified in the paper were in line with Pakistan's international obligations for free, fair and transparent elections.
Fafen's representative Rashid Chaudhry said: "Questions and concerns regarding the voter list still exist and we recommend that the ECP invests additional efforts in providing citizens access to the registration." CCE's Executive Director Zafarullah Khan stressed that adherence to the code of conduct, neutrality of state administration and reduced violence was crucial to ensuring free and fair elections. He said: "Measures are required to ensure all parties must publicly denounce violence, intimidation and coercion." Aurat Foundation's representative WasimWagha said: "There should be legislation to ensure a maximum level of women voter participation at polling stations and in constituencies. This should be implemented by the ECP."