The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has expressed serious concern over some clauses in the electoral reforms bill passed by the National Assembly, including voting rights for overseas Pakistanis as well as the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and has assessed that many proposed amendments may violate constitutional requirements.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja presided over a meeting of the commission on Tuesday and reviewed the amendments on which the commission has serious reservations. The commission said it had already submitted its response to the relevant parliamentary committee but regretted they were not included in the bill.

The ECP has recorded these concerns and comments with its rationale in a detailed document – available with Dawn – that compares the original clauses of the Election Act 2017 with the amendments proposed by the government in the Elections (Amendment) Act 2020 that has been passed by the National Assembly.
The bill has to be passed by the Senate before it becomes law. A press release issued by the ECP listed some of the concerns that the commission discussed in the meeting.

The ECP also fears the proposed amendments will dilute its constitutional powers and shift them to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) which is part of the federal government and not an independent body like the ECP.

The extent of the ECP’s concern over the new electoral reforms bill can be gauged from the fact that it has stated in this document that it does not support 28 of the total 62 proposed amendments.

The bill has been cleared by the parliamentary committee – that included members of the opposition many of whom were absent when the bill was approved - as well as the National Assembly, but it can be challenged in the court of law.

(SAM)