The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is preparing a fact-sheet to be presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms on September 29, on various issues being raised about role of Returning Officers, printing of ballot papers and use of magnetised ink etc.
A spokesman of ECP clarifies that the Post Election Review Report 2013 being commented upon is not the Election Commission's Report on General Election 2013, but it is a summary of the recommendations received from various stakeholders, including international observers, domestic observers and feedback provided by District Returning Officers, Returning Officers, Presiding Officers, polling officials, security officials, general public, including male, female, youth, persons with disabilities and minorities.
The Election Commission explained that the Report on General Elections 2013 is yet to be published; it will contain two volumes, one has been printed, and the other is being finalised where-after it will be released shortly.
The purpose behind preparation of this report is to identify areas requiring further improvement based on lessons learnt during 2013 general elections. The report then led to launching of the Election Commission's second Strategic Plan 2014-2018 containing 13 Goals and 162 Objectives to be achieved during next five-years as well as development of a Draft Unified Law 2014 also containing necessary amendments to be carried out by parliament in various laws.
It further states that it is important to point out that the Post-Election Review Report, Strategic Plan 2014-2018 and the Draft Unified Law were presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms on September 19, and thereafter the Election Commission deemed it appropriate to share it with the stakeholders and the nation to let them know how much effort has been made into this so that if any other quarter showing interest in electoral reforms should be aware of the same so that then they could forward any additional electoral reform proposals to the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for consideration.
"However, instead of appreciating this great effort, out of context version based on few excerpts of the report has been published and telecast. This has further added to the thick fog of confusion already created by some vested interests to give air to unfounded and baseless doubts about fairness and credibility of the General Elections 2013 which have been hailed by the whole world and have raised the image of Pakistan internationally," it states.
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