Election

Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday issued a list of 32 eligible political parties, who have submitted their details of intra-party election and accounts with the commission. According to an official of ECP, any such political party which had failed to submit party’s account statements within due time would not be allowed to contest any future election and these political parties would not be issued party symbol by the ECP. He said that in terms of Article 14 of the Political Parties Order, 2002, a party which failed to submit its statement of accounts under Article 13, would not be eligible to obtain election symbol for contesting elections of Majils-e-Shoora (Parliament) and provincial assemblies. Under Article 13 of the Political Parties Order, 2002 every political party has to submit to the commission within 60 days from the close of each financial year, a consolidated statement of its bank accounts on Form-I duly audited by a Chartered Accountant. He said that the 32 eligible political parties included Awami Muslim League Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League Council, Markazai Jamat Ahle-Hadith Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League,Awami National Party, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto), Mustaqbil Pakistan, Pakistan Muhammadi Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, National Party, Islami Tehreek Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Hazara Democratic Party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, Pakistan Qaumi League, Qoumi Wattan Party, Sindh United Party, Allah-O-Akbar Tehreek, Pakistan Reh-e-Haq, Move on Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Tahafuze Pakistan, Pakistan People’s Party Workers, Pakistan Women Muslim League,Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaniat, Awam League, Aam Admi Tehreek Pakistan, Aam Log Party Pakistan, Pak Sarzameen Party and Pakistan Peoples Front.

LAHORE – The Election Commission of Pakistan has declared the alleged 29,000 bogus votes in the electoral rolls of NA-120 as genuine while maintaining that they will not be omitted from the voters list. PTI, on the other hand, has challenged the decision in the Lahore High Court on the plea that NADRA had not done biometric verification of these votes and hence they should be treated as bogus. It has also maintained that these votes should be omitted from the electoral list because they could be cast in favour of the ruling party candidate Begum Kalsoom Nawaz. Earlier, senior PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi had addressed a news conference in Lahore last month to highlight the issue. Pointing out the existence of 29,000 unverified votes in the electoral list, he had termed it an attempt by the ruling party to rig the by-election. Later, PTI candidate, Dr Yasmin Rashid filed an application with the provincial Election Commission seeking their verification by the national registration authority. The Election Commission, in turn, asked NADRA to verify these votes but the latter declined to do so stating it was not possible at this moment. However, in its report submitted with the ECP, NADRA has declared that they could not be considered as bogus only because the finger points of voters were not taken at the time of their registration. Huda Gohar, spokesperson for the provincial Election Commission, told The Nation yesterday that NADRA had maintained in its report that 29,000 votes were registered in 2006 when biometric system was not in place. According to Ms Huda, the registration authority has also taken the plea that biometric verification of the voters in question was not possible at the moment but it has the complete bio-data of these voters. She also stated that in the light of NADRA report, these votes were not bogus and hence would not be omitted from the voters list. “They are all genuine voters with the only difference that their finger prints were not taken at that time”, she said. Talking to The Nation, senior PTI leader Ejaz Ch said that PTI’s petition on the issue has been fixed for hearing in the court. He hoped the decision would come soon before the polling day. “We would be satisfied if the Election Commission provides us with the electoral list also carrying voters photographs”, Ejaz said, adding, that ECP was bound under the law to provide such a list to all the candidates. This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 13-Sep-2017.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set September 30 as the last date of filing yearly statements of assets and liabilities for MNAs and MPAs. This is a mandatory requirement under Section 42A of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and Section 25A of the Senate (Election) Act, 1975. Members of the Senate, National Assembly and provincial assemblies of the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are, therefore, required to submit in the ECP Secretariat yearly statements of assets and liabilities of their own, their spouses and dependents, duly signed on each page of the form by September, 30, 2017. Defaulters shall be suspended from respective seats of assemblies. The prescribed forms are available, free of cost, from the ECP Secretariat, Islamabad and offices of provincial election commissioners in each province. Forms have already been sent to the Senate Secretariat, National Assembly Secretariat and secretariats of all the four provincial assemblies for facility of the parliamentarians. Prescribed forms can also be downloaded from the ECP’s website.

LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked all the political parties and the candidates for NA-120 by-election to follow the provisions of law and exercise self-restraint for holding the polling in an orderly and peaceful manner on September 17. According to an ECP official, the campaign for by-election in NA-120 Lahore-III would come to an end at midnight falling between September 15 and 16. He said under the law, no person could promote or join in any procession in the area of the constituency during a period of 48 hours ending to midnight, following the conclusion of the poll for an election in that constituency. Any person who contravened the law provisions would be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term, which might extend to six months, and fine, which might extend to Rs 1,000, or with both, he added. He said the ECP had drawn the attention of contesting candidates for by-election to a provision of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, which “provides that no person will convene, hold or attend any public meeting.”

LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday arranged a session to impart training about the usage of Biometric Machines to the polling staff of NA-120. The session was held at the Punjab ECP Office in which IT officers trained the polling staff. According to an ECP spokesperson, as many as 100 biometric machines would be used for the polling process, at 39 out of 220 polling stations of NA-120 and trained staff have been deputed at these stations. The trained polling staff would also apprise the voters about the usage of these machines.

ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Provi­ncial Coordination Committee (IPCC) on Thursday formally agreed to the federal government’s proposal to allow the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to use provisional census data to carry out delimitation of constituencies under the Election Bill of 2017. An official source privy to the IPCC meeting told Dawn that the Law Division had already drafted a bill, on directives of the federal government, to amend Article 51(5) of the Constitution in this regard. Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada presided over the meeting held on Thursday, and senior officers and representatives of all four provinces were present. Under Article 51(5) of the Constitution, seats are allocated to the provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), and the federal capital in accordance with officially published results. This is also mandatory for planning purposes. Govt looking to amend Constitution’s provisions that require ECP to use official census data As per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the final published reports of the census would be ready latest by April 2018. However, the ECP had earlier explained that the process of conducting delimitation could take up to seven months. According to the source, the Law Division had earlier held two meetings to deliberate over the draft amendment of the law, in order to allow the ECP to use the provisional census data for delimitation purposes. The government had released the provisional results of the sixth population census on Aug 25. The results had indicated significant demographic changes which necessitated a reallocation of seats in the National Assembly as well as in the provincial assemblies. The provisional figures of the census conducted this year indicate variation in the provinces’ share of the total population compared to the last census conducted in 1998. Balochistan’s share of the total population has increased from 4.96 per cent in 1998 to 5.94pc in 2017, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share has gone up from 13.41pc to 14.69pc over a period of 19 years. Fata, too, registered a slight increase in the share of the total population — from 2.40pc in 1998 to 2.41pc in 2017. Sindh’s share increased from 23pc in 1998 to 23.05pc in 2017 and Islamabad Capital Territory’ share went up from 0.61pc to 0.97pc over a period of 19 years. Punjab was the only province that registered a decrease in the share of the total population — from 55.95pc in 1998 to 52.95pc in 2017. According to the source, if seats were reallocated on the basis of these changes in population shares of provinces, the ECP would have to conduct delimitation of constituencies as per Chapter 3 of the Elections Bill of 2017. Chapter III of the Act states that the ECP is required to delimit “territorial constituencies for elections to the NA, each Provincial Assembly and to the local governments”. The process is to be carried out after every census. Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2017

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan expects from parliament to enact electoral reforms bill by the end of this month in order to get the commission ready for on time 2018 general elections. The ECP foresees next elections on July 31 or August 1st next year in case the assemblies complete their five-year term. In March next year, four months before the election day, the ECP is bound to give certificate to the government that it is ready for elections. Informed sources in the commission told The News that in order to achieve the target, parliament should enact new electoral reform law by the end of this month. These sources said that already the commission is scheduled to carry out a momentous task of delimitation of constituencies which will take six months. The delimitation process will start mid next month and conclude in mid March next year. Although, the National Assembly has already passed the electoral reforms bill, the Senate Committee on Law and Justice seeks an improvement in the bill as passed by the Lower House. In this case, the bill as to be passed by the Senate will be referred back to the National Assembly for approval. With their fingers crossed, the ECP officials are eager to see the enactment completed by the end of this month. Senate Committee on Law and Justice, which met on Wednesday to deliberate on the bill as passed by the National Assembly, has shown its intention to further improve electoral reforms bill. The committee will continue its deliberations and is scheduled to meet again on September 11. According to the Committee sources, certain improvements are being suggested by the body members after which it would be necessary to refer the bill back to the National Assembly for passage. These committee sources though quote the Election Commission officials as telling the Senate body that the commission can wait till October for enactment of the reformed electoral law. However, ECP sources insist that going into Oct will make things risky. “The ECP has originally sought the enactment of new election law by July 31 this year to comfortably complete all its election related tasks,” a source said, lamenting that even in September we are not sure when the law will be enacted finally. The ECP sources hope that the Senate Law and Justice Committee will complete its deliberations in its next meeting on Sept 11 to ensure that the future steps of passage of bill by the Senate and then the National Assembly are completed by the end of this month. Recently, this newspaper while quoting ECP sources had warned that delays on part of the government and opposition parties in the approval and implementation of much-awaited electoral reforms were endangering the 2018 election which may end up in a serious voting mess leading to political chaos. It was said that elections were the biggest activity in peace time but the ECP was not getting timely assistance from relevant government authorities and parliament in terms of passing new laws and updating data. It should be recalled that on 25th July, 2014, the Special Committee of Parliament on Electoral Reforms was formed comprising 33 members from the National Assembly and Senate with ToR to accomplish the task of Electoral Reforms within three-months. The committee was asked to submit its report to parliament but despite the lapse of almost three years, the law regarding the electoral reforms has not yet been enacted.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is racing against the clock for holding the next general election on time as The Election Bill 2016 – commonly known as electoral reforms bill – must be passed soon to enable the polls supervisory body to organise ‘historic elections’ in the country. ECP Secretary Babar Yaqub Fateh Mohammad said this before the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday. The committee was reviewing the bill referred to it after being introduced in the Senate on August 25. The bill has already been passed by the National Assembly. Before starting formal discussion on the bill, Law Minister Zahid Hamid requested the committee, chaired by Senator Murtaza Javed Abbasi, to consider passage of the bill as soon as possible and asked the ECP secretary to share its details with senators. Advertisement Over 300 political parties yet to submit accounts statements with ECP “As per the ECP’s plan of action, we have to issue a certificate of readiness for the general election, and that must be issued four months prior to the exact date [of polls],” the secretary said, adding that for holding elections in July 2018, the ECP must issue that certificate by March. The secretary said there would be a total of 0.5 million polling stations across the country of which 30,000 would be new, and every polling station would be at a distance of one kilometer from the other. “We will have to train about 0.1 people million for the elections, and if we want to meet the deadline then the bill must be passed as soon as possible,” he said, adding that printing of watermarked ballot papers and other relevant preparations would also be time consuming. “The ECP is literally racing against the clock, and passage of the bill at the earliest will be helpful in holding the historic elections in the country,” he added. Law Minister Hamid told the committee that a parliamentary committee comprising members of all the parliamentary parties had held about 93 meetings to deliberate upon the reforms in elections that were finalised in the shape of that bill with consensus. “I would also urge the committee not to come up with major amendments and to pass the bill on time,” he added. The committee discussed amendments, including those that are administrative and technical in nature, as well as replacement of certain words and phrases to make the intention and purpose of the sections clear. It also discussed whether a column asking for education details should remain a part of the nomination papers, or whether a wealth statement form should be added in addition to the assets and liabilities form. ECP adjourns hearing in Imran case for one last time PTI’s Senator Azam Swati came up with over two dozen amendments but most of them were of trivial nature for omission and correction of clerical language in the bill. The committee deliberated whether people with invalid or expired Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) be allowed to cast their vote and how to deal with a situation in which two candidates request the same electoral symbol. The bill will be discussed again in the next meeting on September 11, four hours before the start of the Senate session, to consider remaining amendments proposed by the Senators. It was agreed that the process for considering amendments should be expedited so that the bill can be passed as early as possible.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday directed the chief secretary of Punjab to make arrangements for installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at all polling stations in the National Assembly’s constituency NA-120 (Lahore) before the Sept 17 by-election. According to an official announcement, the ECP issued the directives after receiving a request in this regard from the army, which has been asked to perform security duties during the by-poll. The NA seat fell vacant after disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as a result of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case. The ECP had sought the army’s assistance after declaring the whole constituency ‘sensitive’ and on the demands of opposition parties. Meanwhile, the commission had received response from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to its query regarding missing biometric data of about 29,000 voters of NA-120, according to an ECP official. He said Nadra had told them that they did not have biometric record of 22,000 people who had obtained computerised national identity cards (CNICs) before 2005 when the authority did not have a biometric verification system in place. Moreover, Nadra does not have biometric information also about 2,200 voters possessing National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop). The commission had sent the query to Nadra last month after analysing complete data of voters in NA-120, where it plans to test-run biometric verification machines at selected polling stations. Earlier in the day, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during a meeting with ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, complained about what he called violation of the election code of conduct by members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Mr Qureshi told Dawn that he had asked the ECP secretary to take action against those PML-N legislators who had been openly violating the code of conduct that barred all public office-holders, including members of the national and provincial assemblies, from campaigning for candidates of their parties. He said that he had informed the ECP secretary with proof that PML-N MPAs Bilal Yaseen and Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman were running the campaign of the party candidate Kulsoom Nawaz. He said the ECP secretary told him that they had already summoned MPA Yaseen on Thursday (today) to seek explanation over reports about violation of the code of conduct. Mr Qureshi said he had also raised the issue of the blockage of CNICs of thousands of Pakhtun voters, who had been residing in the constituency for several years. “The PTI is concerned over the government’s move of blocking CNICs of the voters due to which they would not be able to exercise their democratic right of taking part in the by-election,” he said. However, the ECP secretary said the issue was related to Nadra and not the commission. Mr Qureshi had last month sent to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza a letter raising serious objections to the code due to which almost the entire senior leadership of the party, including chairman Imran Khan and secretary general Jahangir Tareen, were unable to participate in the election campaign of the party’s candidate Dr Yasmeen Rashid. The PTI leader had also held a meeting with the CEC to take up the issue with him. The CEC told him that he was seeking opinion of the four members of the ECP and a decision on whether to modify the code or otherwise would be taken later. Later, the commission turned down the request. The PTI has already announced that Imran Khan will address a public meeting in Lahore on Friday (tomorrow) in connection with the election campaign of Dr Rashid. Party leaders say that since Mr Khan cannot participate in any rally or public meeting within the NA-120 constituency “due to the ECP’s illogical bar” on the MNAs and MPAs, they have arranged the public meeting in Mazang, an area outside the limits of NA-120. Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2017

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Tuesday finally informed the top election watchdog that it does not have the fingerprint record of more than 29,000 voters in the National Assembly constituency NA-120, Lahore where by-election is scheduled for September 17. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sought from NADRA the data of all 321,786 voters registered in NA-120 in order to test run Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Biometric Verification Machines (BVM). The Nadra provided the data to ECP last month. Upon analysing the data, the relevant department of the ECP found biometric fingerprints of 29,607 voters missing. This prompted the ECP to write back to the Nadra last week for the missing data. Advertisement Ad In response, a top official of the ECP told The Express Tribune that Nadra told the commission on Tuesday that it does not have biometric fingerprints of the voters since their CNICs were made before Nadra started keeping record of fingerprints. Final list: 44 to vie for NA-120 seat Having no record of fingerprints of such a big number of voters in a constituency which falls right in the heart of the country’s second biggest city is a big question mark. This implies there will be thousands more of such people in the country whose fingerprint record would not be available with the Nadra. The ECP had announced to use the EVMs and BVMs as test run at the NA-120 constituency from where Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is contesting after her husband’s disqualification by the apex court on July 28. After assessing the situation, the ECP has decided to shelve the plan to use EVMs. It would go for test run of BVMs in 100 selected polling booths for now. The ECP had procured 150 EVMs and announced to conduct first pilot project of these machines in this constituency. Earlier on July 9, the ECP was not able to test BVM during by-polls of the Sindh Assembly constituency PS-114 as Nadra had failed to share the voters’ data of the constituency with the ECP. ECP unlikely to use modern techniques in NA-120 by-polls Earlier this year, the ECP had announced to test BVM for voters’ verification in PS-114 constituency as a pilot project and to submit its report to the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms which was working on new election laws. It could not do so, since Nadra did not provide data of voters to the ECP. The Election Bill 2017, commonly known as electoral reforms bill, has been passed by the National Assembly and is now under consideration in the Senate. It has the provision to shift to modern technology gradually in order to make the election process transparent. With shortcomings on part of allied departments and other technical issues involved, it seems the ECP might not be able to go for EVMs and BVMs during elections in the near future. During 2013 general elections, the ECP had used some special ink tagged “magnetised ink” to get thumb impressions of every voter on counterfoils of ballot papers. The purpose of using this ink was to get thumb impressions of every voter verified through Nadra data in case of vote audit. NA-120 by-poll: Sit-ins, Panama, Aqama all part of a conspiracy: Maryam About Rs85 million were spent on purchasing magnetised ink and a total of Rs160 million on procuring indelible ink and magnetised stamp pads. Used in general elections without conducting any prior trial, the project was a debacle. The Nadra failed to verify fingerprints of hundreds of thousands of votes that were sent to it during vote audit amid rigging controversy. Last year, the ECP had announced not to use the so-called magnetised ink again, but rather use BVMs during general elections in the future.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has barred those political parties which failed to submit their financial records on time, from contesting future elections as filing of account details is a legal requirement. There are as many as 345 political parties ‘registered’ with the ECP but only 31 submitted their financial records before the expiry of the final date. The ECP issued a statement, which said, “Political parties that did not submit their financial records before the final submission date [August 29] will not be allowed to contest any future elections, they will not be assigned election symbols”. It may be mentioned here that the ban would stay till the time, these parties submit their assets’ details to the ECP and only then, a party will become eligible to contest election. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), PML-Zia, PML-Junejo and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party are among the parties that have failed so far to submit their records to the electoral body. According to Article 14 of the Political Parties Order 2002, a party, which does not submit its bank statements under Article 13, will not be eligible for obtaining an election symbol to contest elections for parliament and the provincial assemblies. The ECP has been reminding all political parties to submit a consolidated statement of their bank accounts on Form-1 duly audited by a chartered accountant within 60 days of the close of each financial year.

LAHORE: The electoral watchdog has stepped in to check violations of code of conduct in the by-polls for National Assembly constituency NA-120, Lahore-III, which fell vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif elected to the lower house of parliament from here. Nominees of three major parties – Begum Kulsoom Nawaz of the PML-N, Dr Yasmin Rashid of the PTI and Faisal Mir of the PPP – along with 50 plus other candidates are in the run for the seat. District Returning Officer for NA-120 Tahir Hasan along with returning officer and other staff held a meeting with Lahore Mayor Mubasher Javed and Punjab Horticulture Authority’s Shahid Khan and directed them to check use of state machinery as well as ‘oversized’ publicity material of various candidates within the limits of the constituency. Mr Javed was asked [that] no candidate should be allowed to use state resources for his/her election campaign and that all public office-holders, including those at local body level, should be directed to avert taking part in electioneering. The mayor was also directed to get removed banners, posters, panaflexes and boards over and above the size fixed by the Election Commission while no uplift work should be carried out in the constituency until the polling day falling on Sept 17. Mr Javed assured the DRO that deputy mayors and councillors would be immediately asked to follow the ECP code of conduct while relevant MPs would also be approached for the purpose, says a press release issued by the commission. The PHA deputy director was directed to remove electioneering material that’s in violation of the code of the conduct from the main arteries of NA-120. The monitoring teams deputed by the ECP reported details of the publicity material displayed at Chauburji Chowk, Rajgarh, Sanda, Sessions Court, Civil Secretariat, Kareem Park, Lakshmi and Mozang areas that was over and above the size allowed by the commission. Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2017

SLAMABAD – The National Assembly on Tuesday passed ‘The Elections Bill, 2017’ aimed at bringing electoral reforms for conducting free, fair and transparent elections in the country. Though the government ignored some amendments proposed by the opposition, a major portion of the legislation was approved unanimously. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, at the fag-end of over five-hour proceedings, staged a token walkout from the House after the government did not incorporate some of their amendment proposals. The PTI lawmakers were mainly demanding the right of vote to overseas Pakistanis, the appointment of the caretaker government by the Parliament and biometric identification of voters etc. The bill, after over a three years deliberation by the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PRCER), was adopted in the Lower House of the Parliament in the presence of 39 lawmakers including 25 treasury benches MNAs. The House, with a thin presence of lawmakers, incorporated nearly 40 amendments of the PPP and the JUI-F regarding the bill. The government also rejected nearly 100 amendments moved by opposition members and the JUI-F. About the controversial matter of ‘articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution’, MQM lawmakers sought the status of these clauses. Minister for Law Zahid Hamid hinted government’s intentions of amending Articles 62 and 63. The minister said that the constitutional amendment for fixing a time limit for the ‘disqualification of a parliamentarian’ on the basis of these articles (62, 62) would be taken to the main committee of the Parliament. Hamid said that the time limit for the disqualification of a parliamentarian should be less than five years. The 92-page bill, moved by the law minister, contains numerous electoral reforms including delimitation of constituencies by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after every census. The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says the ‘ECP shall prepare an action plan six months before the elections’. It was mentioned in the bill that citizens who have obtained CNIC from NADRA will automatically be enrolled as voters. Taking care of long distances of the polling station, the distance between a polling station and the voters has been reduced to one-kilometer. “The nomination form has been simplified and the same has been prescribed for candidates for all seats,” it says. It says, “the printing of papers will be based on the formula that the number of ballot papers per polling station shall be equal to the number of voters at the polling station, rounded off to the nearest hundred”. Wealth statement to be filed by a member, it says, shall in the same form as is submitted under the income tax ordinance, 2001. The bill further proposes that the candidates will now have 28 days instead of 21 days for running the election campaign. The votes of male and female voters will be counted separately. There will be a specific limit on the budget spent on campaigning by political parties. “Returning officers will not have the authority to publish extra ballot papers and anyone who harms the ECP staff will have to pay a fine of Rs0.1 million or will be sent to jail for two years,” says the bill. The new legislation also binds every political party to hold intra-party elections every five years. According to the bill, the eight laws which would be consolidated once the bill becomes Act of the Parliament include Electoral Rolls Act 1974, Delimitation of Constituencies Act 1974, Senate Election Act 1975; Representation of the People Act 1976, Election Commission Order 2002, Conduct of General Elections Order 2002, Political Parties Order 2002 and Allocation of Symbols Order 2002. Major reforms envisaged in the bill include strengthening of the ECP, which would be fully independent and autonomous. As per an amendment, the election commission would prepare a comprehensive action plan four months instead of six months before the election specifying all legal and administrative measures for the conduct of elections. It would establish a transparent result management system for expeditious counting, compilation, and dissemination of the election results. The commissioners will have full financial powers, says the bill including creating posts within its approved budgetary allocations and all the expenditure of the ECP would be charged upon the consolidated fund. The ECP has been authorized to redress complaints and grievances during various stages of the election process (other than a challenge to the election itself under Article 225) and its decision will be appealable to the Supreme Court. After the passage of the bill, through a resolution moved by the government, the House thanked members of the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms recommending President’s Pride of Performance Award for them. Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah, on a point of order, strongly criticized the minister’s absence in the House during the important legislation. “This is the situation of the House as only five ministers out of 53 cabinet members are present here,” he said at the end of the proceedings. Shah raised the issue of US President Trump’s recent policy statement. “I am surprised to see the silence of the government on policy announced by US President Trump on Tuesday morning,” he said. Shah said the Foreign Affairs Minister Khwaja Asif was in the House but he did not utter a single word on it. This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 23-Aug-2017

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has received from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) data of voters registered in the National Assembly constituency NA-120 (Lahore). The ECP plans to test-run biometric verification machines at selected polling stations during the upcoming by-poll for NA-120 slated for Sept 17. The seat fell vacant after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case. Sources in Nadra and ECP told Dawn that the commission had received the data which would now be fed into biometric machines to be used during the trial run. The ECP sought data from Nadra under Article 220 of the Constitution which reads: “It shall be the duty of all executive authorities in the federation and in the province to assist the commissioner and the election commission in the discharge of his and their functions”. An ECP official said the data of voters for NA-120 was being critically analysed. He said that polling station-wise data would be stored in biometric verification machines to authenticate voters before issuance of ballot papers to them. Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2017

LAHORE: The two main rival candidates in NA-120 by-poll — Ms Kulsoom Nawaz of the PML-N and Dr Yasmin Rashid of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf — will appear before the returning officer today (Thursday) for scrutiny of their nomination papers. As per the by-election schedule, Aug 17 is the last date for completion of scrutiny of the nomination papers filed by the candidates. The RO had sought appearance of Dr Rashid at 11am, while Ms Nawaz was asked to appear at 3pm for scrutiny process. Candidates of the PPP and the PAT have already filed objections to Ms Nawaz’s nomination papers. Advertisement The appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers can be filed by Aug 21, while the appellate tribunal would decide the appeals by Aug 24. The candidates can withdraw their papers till Aug 25, while the RO will release final list of the candidates on Aug 26. Polling is scheduled for Sept 17. Interestingly, city administration on Wednesday carried out patchwork on the road outside the provincial election commission’s office where the RO sits. Sources said the road was repaired ahead of appearance of Ms Nawaz, the wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017