EDITORIAL: The inadequacies of our perennially under fire electoral system have once again become a topic of much fevered debate with the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) noting in its initial report on the general elections that the significant delay in the tabulation and announcement of preliminary results have cast doubts over their reliability.
These misgivings have led to results from dozens of constituencies being challenged in the courts while the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has stopped the announcement of final results in 26 constituencies over complaints being received from losing candidates, alleging that their respective mandates have been tampered with.
In a closely fought, often acrimonious election battle, the onus was on the ECP to ensure that all aspects of the polling process remained above reproach. It is clear, however, that it did not quite manage that. Even so, despite scattered cases of irregularities and absence of polling staff or polling material at some polling stations, the actual polling process took place in a fairly smooth manner in most parts of the country, with around 60 million Pakistanis casting their votes, a voting rate of approximately 48 percent.
In fact, the ECP’s efforts in organising the largest electoral exercise in Pakistan’s history in “a reasonably orderly manner”, where over a million election officials performed their duties in a tough political and security environment, are highly commendable.
However, it is the ECP’s post-poll performance that has ended up largely overshadowing whatever good it was able to accomplish up to 5pm on polling day. As FAFEN notes, the inordinate delay in preparing and relaying of results, compounded by the suspension of cellular and internet services by the caretaker government “undermined years of parliamentary efforts to reform the election results management process”.
Despite the ECP’s reassurances before the elections that an internet shutdown will not impact its Election Management System (EMS), that did not prove to be the case with the delays in announcement of results lasting well over 24 hours in numerous cases.
One cannot help but point out that the ECP had not hesitated in blocking certain decisions of the caretaker authorities where it felt they were going beyond their remit, but it conveniently ignored the one action of the caretakers that had a significant impact on not just the voters’ rights to information and freedom of expression on polling day, but something that also raised questions regarding the ability of presiding officers to communicate results through the EMS to returning officers (ROs).
The chief election commissioner’s later attempt at downplaying this controversy by suggesting that presiding officers could physically deliver Form-45, the result of the count, to ROs only served to make the claims regarding the efficiency of the much-touted EMS appear laughable.
As FAFEN notes, procedural transparency at offices of ROs wasn’t as robust as was required, with ROs, by and large, failing in their crucial duty of announcing complete results in the stipulated time as required to do by law, instigating much controversy and allegations of result manipulation. The ECP must now pay heed to FAFEN’s recommendations, and “use its powers liberally to order recounts” and to not reject such applications “merely on technical grounds”.
The fact is that all the progress that may have been made in terms of enlarging the voter base and making the voting exercise a more inclusive one with respect to participation of marginalised groups, while welcome, does not alter the reality that our electoral system remains vulnerable to irregularities as well as manipulation from powerful quarters.
Not only are changes needed with respect to the technological resources at the ECP’s disposal, there is still much room for improvement when it comes to making it a truly autonomous body impervious to outside pressures. Without requisite electoral reforms, fostering trust in democracy; the electoral process and state institutions will remain a tall ask.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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