Political parties make recommendations to ECP, Nadra for free, fair elections in FATA

ISLAMABAD: As political parties prepare to participate in elections in FATA for the first time in history, the Political Parties' Joint Committee on FATA Reforms (FATA Committee) have highlighted five key concerns that require urgent action by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure free, fair and transparent general elections in FATA.

In a letter delivered to the ECP and NADRA on Tuesday by political parties' leadership, the FATA Committee recommend that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the ECP must take swift measures in FATA to increase Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) registration and voter registration.

The disenfranchised FATA voters deserve increased efforts to facilitate their participation in the upcoming general elections, they added.

The FATA Committee also recommended the ECP to allow internally displaced persons (IDPs) to cast votes from camps and host communities for candidates in their home constituency.

Political parties also urged the government authorities to ensure that judicial officers from neighbouring settled districts should serve as returning officers and district returning officers, just as is planned for elections throughout Pakistan.

The FATA Committee also requested the ECP to ensure polling stations within two kilometres of voter's homes as required by the Supreme Court. The FATA Joint Committee recommended the ECP regularly meet with the leadership of political parties in FATA to work together in addressing the numerous and complex electoral challenges in FATA.

Ten political parties are represented in the FATA Committee including Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), National Party (NP), Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q), Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP).

The letter was also delivered to President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Syed Masood Kausar and the Secretary Ministry of SAFRON.

The Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms submitted the consensus recommendations listed below for their immediate consideration and action.

The Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms (FATA Committee) was established in 2010 to identify and advocate for areas of consensus on reform priorities, including amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and the extension of the Political Parties Order to FATA.