Serious concerns were expressed over the slow progress in the electoral reform process by members of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms with several maintaining that if this pace is maintained 2018 elections may not be any better than the 2013 elections. The Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms headed by Senator Ishaq Dar began meetings by inviting proposals from the public through newspaper advertisements. It has convened 14 meetings so far. A sub-committee has convened another 55 meetings under its convenor Zahid Hamid. A number of important proposed reforms are awaiting consideration by the parliament as a whole.
In its observations, Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) states that the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms has failed to complete its work within 90 days as prescribed by the Rules of Business of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms mainly because of its irregular meetings, lack of political will and little if any consultation with stakeholders. Usually parliamentary committees are given a month to present a report on a specific legislation and given the fact that so much well-researched material was already available with the new parliamentary committee the inordinate delay is inexplicable, an official of National Assembly's Secretariat said.
In April 2010 the two Houses of Parliament adopted the 18th Amendment of the constitution. The amendment was passed after only ten months of deliberation and research and a consensus was reached by all parliamentary parties. The Speaker of the National Assembly constituted a 33-member parliamentary committee on electoral reforms on July 25, 2014. The committee has yet to finalise its recommendations after the passage of 20 months. Recently, Dr Arif Alvi wrote a letter to the Parliamentary Electoral Reforms Committee on its slow progress. He accused the Election Commission of Pakistan and NADRA of employing delaying tactics and warned that if progress is not improved, PTI feels that the 2018 elections may not be any better than the elections held in 2013 or the recently concluded local bodies' elections.
Introduction of new technology in the voting process is just one of those vital electoral reforms without which the next elections will be void of credibility and the committee is yet to reach any conclusion, a former secretary ECP told Business Recorder. The existing constitutional and legal provisions constituting the legal framework of election commission structure and election administration show that electoral reforms require amending the Election Commission Order 2002 (Chief Executive's Order No 1 of 2002), the Conduct of General Elections Order 2002 (Chief Executive's Order No 7 of 2002), the Political Parties Order 2002 (Chief Executive's Order No 18 of 2002), the Representation of People Act 1976 (Act No LXXXV of 1976), the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 (Act No XXI of 1974), the Delimitation of Constituencies Act 1974 (Act No XXXIV of 1974) and the Senate (Election) Act 1975 (Act No LI of 1975). Further there is a need to provide single set of rules that would unify existing electoral laws into one law. Once the draft is approved by the main committee, it will turn into a draft bill which will be introduced in the National Assembly for approval.
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