According to a report from a local newspaper published on Wednesday, Islamabad’s Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar disclosed that the government is seriously considering amending the election laws in order to ensure that elections are held in a transparent manner throughout the country.
Tarar, speaking at a stakeholder’s conference on electoral transparency that was jointly hosted by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), Coalition for Elections and Democracy (CED), and Fredrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, said, “We are seriously thinking and carefully examining that at least those amendments should be included which already have the consensus.”
Mustafa Kamal of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), Taj Haider, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Senator Anwar Kakar of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Birgit Lamm of Fredrick Neumann, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob of PILDAT, Mukhtar Ahmed Ali of the CPDI, and a number of other individuals were present at the conference.
Different leader presented their views about holding elections
The Minister of the Law stated that holding elections was very important; however, it was also necessary to view the environment.
He lamented the fact that local elections, vital to a healthy democracy and democratic process, had been neglected by successive governments. He suggested that we ought to adopt a different frame of mind concerning this matter.
During his address to the conference, Senator Haider stated that the census and redistricting are essential components for free and fair elections in any country, yet no one discusses these issues.
According to Kamal, who is a member of the MQM, his party decided not to participate in the elections for the local government in Karachi because there was not enough transparency in the census.
When asked about delimitations, he stated that there are significant problems with the delimitations in Karachi because some union councils have 20,000 voters while others have 90,000 voters.
This was expressed while he was discussing delimitations. He stated that the first thing that is done in any census is to count the houses, but unfortunately, the method that is used to count the houses is flawed.
He also brought up the fact that after the 18th Amendment, the powers were devolved to the chief ministers of the provinces, but that there is an urgent need to further devolve those powers down to the level of the district and the union councils.
Senator Kakar held the opinion that holding elections in more than one province at the same time would lead to yet another crisis.
He stated that we have two choices: the first is to hold elections in accordance with the rules, and the second is to manage the crises.
He emphasized that effective crisis management is an essential requirement of the present time and place.
To read our blog on “Notices issued by SC to AGP & others on delay in elections,” click here.