Punjab election commission’s tribunal on Saturday ordered re-polling in National Assembly constituency, NA-122, declaring the election in the constituency null and void – accepting Imran Khan’s petition challenging the 2013 election result. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had defeated PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the 2013 general elections from NA-122 after which PTI had challenged the results.Unseating of comes as something of a respite for the PTI after the rejection of its claims of mass organised rigging in the 2013 elections by the judicial commission (JC). The decision in respect of NA-122 is going to do nothing to alter the overall balance of power in parliament as the PML-N has a considerable majority, but it will be something of a dent in its claim to the occupancy of the moral high ground. The election tribunal appears to have found many of the anomalies identified in the report authored by the now former chief justice Nasirul Mulk. The difference is that the commission was sifting through allegations of mass manipulation and systematic fraud in May 2013 whereas the tribunal appears to have been trying to ascertain if the record of the vote in NA-122 conclusively demonstrated that Mr Sadiq had defeated PTI chief Imran Khan. As in the Saad Rafique case, the PML-N has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court, where it will likely argue that administrative anomalies do not amount to proof of any wrongdoing by Mr Sadiq and that he should not be punished since the record of the vote was improperly collected and poorly maintained by election officials. Whilst there is no evidence of a nationwide organised conspiracy to rig the last general election, there are mountains of evidence of incompetence, corruption, localised rigging and the denial of the right to vote. The JC uncovered evidence of widespread failure to follow standard operating procedures by returning officers and other electoral officials, and was particularly critical of the role — or rather the lack of a role — played by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which fared particularly badly in the judgment of the JC. It is this mountain of evidence now revealed that gives some credence to the initial claims of the PTI, even if the principal plank of its argument was found wanting. There seems to be no reason to doubt the findings of the election tribunal and the house is going to need a new speaker — who may or may not come from NA-122, depending on the outcome of the by-election, if it does take place given that Ayaz Sadiq has the right to appeal the verdict in the courts.
But that is something to be welcomed – healthy electoral competition is good for democracy. Less welcome though is the lack of interest in parliament, indeed lack of initiative shown by the speaker himself, in pushing ahead with electoral reforms, something that the judicial commission report made clear are desperately needed. If the dispute over May 2013 is not to be repeated in 2018 – and at the moment, it looks very likely that the principal contenders will again be the PML-N and PTI – the election commission must be overhauled and the voting process made more transparent and verifiable.
pk.shafaqna.com
