The election commission has sent a letter to the National Consensus Commission disagreeing with certain recommendations of the electoral system reform commission.
The election commission’s authority will be curtailed if those recommendations are implemented, the EC thinks.
The election commission sent the letter to the National Consensus Commission vice-president Professor Ali Riaz Monday, EC senior secretary Akhter Ahmed informed the media.
The EC secretary said the letter has been sent to the National Consensus Commission disagreeing with 9-10 recommendations of the electoral system reform commission.
The EC thinks the demarcation of constituency boundaries should be fixed taking into account the number of voters, population and regional integrity
He further said the reform commission recommended forming a separate commission for the demarcation of constituency boundaries. The EC said this was not required.
Besides this, if the formula that the reform commission has recommended for delimiting the constituency boundary is adopted, the number of constituencies will increase in the city areas.
The EC thinks the demarcation of constituency boundaries should be fixed taking into account the number of voters, population and regional integrity.
The EC secretary further said the reform commission recommended certification (the results) within 48 hours of the voting. But the EC thinks this is not necessary. This is because the gazette on results is certification.
The election commission has disagreed with the reform commission’s recommendation regarding the accountability of the EC and punitive measures against the election commissioners.
“Already there is a system in place for this. There is the Supreme Judicial Council for this,” the EC secretary said.
Posing a question on if it would be rationale for the election commissioners to appear before the courts five or 10 years after conducting the election, the EC senior secretary Akhter Ahmed said, “One person will win and the other aggrieved persons could file any complaints at any time. The election commission has also opined that the commission should have the NID service.”