The committee has a daunting task ahead as Pakistans electoral system suffers from a

host of problems. Starting from faulty electoral rolls and gerrymandering in constituency
delimitation to ghost polling stations to non-issuance of statements of count, the list is
endless. The committee is expected to fix all these problems one by one. But, hosoe!er
meticulous it might be in fine-tuning the rele!ant las, practically speaking the problems
are not likely to !anish. "!en hen carefully drafted rules are put to di!erse field tests,
loopholes stand exposed and are exploited by !ested interests.
Take for example, the la that re#uires presiding officers at each polling station to hand
o!er signed copies of statements of count $%orm &'( and &() to the agents of each
contestant. The PPP complained after the *++, elections that the presiding officers did
not put their original signatures on the statements so that these couldnt be used as
e!idence in courts. The complaint as redressed and the rules amended re#uiring the
presiding officers to also put their thumb impressions on the statements.
The rule as made atertight but the problem has persisted in all later elections. The
"lection -ommission of Pakistan $"-P) had to issue a directi!e, one month after the
polling in .,*/, asking the returning officers to make the forms publicly a!ailable. But
this as simply not folloed in many cases.
0aking the rules impregnable is only half the 1ob done2 it is the other half 3 their
implementation 3 that is here the real problems lie. There are to ma1or drags on the
"-Ps resol!e and capacity to implement the la and deli!er credible and non-
contro!ersial elections.
%irst is the "-Ps relationship ith the 1udiciary. -onducting elections is first and last an
administrati!e 1ob, and those ho are 1udges by training and description do not #ualify to
perform it. The misconception about their proficiency probably originates from the
constitutional pro!ision that calls for appointing retired 1udges as election commissioners.
The underlying sense is that since 1udges are percei!ed as non-partisan, elections under
their leadership ill be non-contro!ersial.
%ormer president 4hulam 'sha# 5han impro!ised upon this to hand o!er constituency-
le!el duties to 1udicial officers as ell, in the *+66 elections. Since then, se!en elections
ha!e been held practically by the 1udiciary under the same scheme but ironically none
escaped being tainted. The riting on the all is that the experiment has failed2 and this
must be acknoledged and corrected.
The administration of elections by the 1udiciary also forms a clear case of conflict of
interest because as an institution, it administers these and then itself ad1udicates upon
conflicts arising out of their administration. 7cknoledging this, the 8ational 9udicial
Policy 0aking -ommittee had in .,,+ decided not to lend its personnel to the "-P but
retracted its decision before the .,*/ elections in the larger national interest.
The in!ol!ement of the 1udiciary in elections has confused to separate constitutional
spaces reser!ed for to different constitutional bodies. 't has made the elections appear
like an auxiliary function of the 1udiciary hile the 1ob of the "-P has been reduced to
issuing notifications, directi!es and statements.
'n this confusion, the "lection -ommission has lost its freedom to make decisions and
act. The to functions not only need to be separated from each other, the "-P also needs
some kind of immunity from 1udicial inter!ention. "lections are a time-bound exercise
and their administrators need ability, agility and creati!ity in order to be able to respond
to any unpredictable situation at any hour. 'f solutions are to be sub1ected to long
procedural delays, they are bound to pro!e useless.
The second most important area here the "-P needs to be empoered is its control o!er
the ci!il administration. 't needs the ser!ices of an army of go!ernment employees to
perform duties at the polling station le!el. 't needs to ean these seconded personnel off
any political affiliations, guard them against threats of !iolence from !ested interest
groups, check any negligence on their part and make them ork efficiently.
:e!eloping other stakes in ci!il administration is important as peace and order in society
are a prere#uisite for elections. The "-P also needs the support of all go!ernment
departments, including the la-enforcement agencies to ensure that the -ode of -onduct
for pre-election campaigns is strictly folloed, that !oters are not bribed or coerced, and
that there is a le!el playing field for all contestants.
The "-P has not been able to ensure all of this to the satisfaction of the parties. ;ne
likely reason is that this area too is contested by to constitutional bodies, the "-P and
the caretaker go!ernment. They are both entrusted ith the same responsibility of
ensuring neutrality in go!ernment. This duplication not only creates confusion but also
orks as a disincenti!e for the "-P to take the initiati!e, besides alloing the to to
blame failures on each other.
'nterim set-ups ha!e traditionally ser!ed as a constitutional indo for the establishment
to inter!ene in the electoral process. The system of appointment as changed
substantially through the *6th 7mendment but caretaker set-ups too ha!e failed to meet
expectations.
The "-P thus needs a ne legal frameork for its engagement ith the ci!il
administration. There is no harm in taking a leaf from the 'ndian experience here no
caretakers are appointed and the election commission !irtually takes o!er the entire state
machinery, as soon as the election process begins and until the results are announced.
The "lectoral <eforms -ommittee ill ha!e to a!oid indulging in rephrasing old las
and sho some creati!ity. <eaders should be reminded that Pakistan achie!ed an
important milestone in its first-e!er democratic transition, from one elected go!ernment
to the next, in .,*/. The subse#uent milestone should not be the next transition but
electoral reforms as only these can take polls and democracy a #ualitati!e step forard.
The writer works with Punjab Lok Sujag, a research and advocacy group.
Published in Dawn, July 2th, 2!"#
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