The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recommended expansion in the recruitment pool by considering competent manpower from other professions instead of sticking to judiciary and give a chance to talented individuals from other sectors including civil society, business and civil service to fill the post of Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan and selection of its other members.
The UNDP in an analysis on Electoral Reforms in Pakistan has observed that the constitutional obligation of appointing retired Supreme Court judges to lead the Election Commission of Pakistan ensures that the pool of candidates for appointment is quite limited. Those few who qualify for the slots may go through their career and do not expose their legacy to the withering criticism which the post may bring, maintained its quarterly policy publication.
The analysis says that appointing a new Chief Election Commissioner and investigating the previous election is not sufficient. Rather there must be an accepted roadmap for achieving the status where every voter has full confidence in a free and fair process from the delimitation of constituencies to the announcement of final results.
Universal suffrage is a core international standard for elections. There was a gap of roughly 11 million women on the 2013 voter rolls and yet estimated female turnout of 49 percent was significantly lower than male turnout estimate of 60 percent. These gaps portray a systematic disenfranchisement of women because of the cultural norms, insecurity and/or procedural issues such as the issuance of CNIC. Furthermore, the system of indirect election on reserved seats for women in parliament, the national assembly, and local government system faces a legitimacy gap as maintained in the report.
UNDP further recommends two major technologies; biometric voter identification and electronic voting machines (EVM) proposed by stakeholders for future elections. Stakeholder opinion remains mixed as the risks and costs of these technologies outweigh the potential benefits. Alternatively, the strengthening of existing technologies such as computerised results management and the management of polling schemes could significantly increase transparency without any significant cost.
The electoral reforms are high on the agenda in Pakistan and several processes have already put in place. "It is perhaps appropriate to look at some broader examples from other nations who have gone from highly disputed electoral processes to widely accepted ones," according to the UNDP.
The UNDP further says that while money is necessary for democratic politics, unregulated donations and spending, and the usage of illegal resources, can have a corrosive effect on politics and electoral integrity. The increasing use of cell phones, internet and the spread of private television channels have opened up new avenues of communications to reach out to voters. However, the use of these new technologies has boosted the cost of electoral campaign.
Several countries in Latin America and the Middle East appoint only judges but few limit them to those already retired. More common though, is the appointment of eminent public figures renowned for political neutrality with expertise in fields such as law, public administration, political science or the media.