PESHAWAR, Feb 9: The Election Commission has brought all its resources in operation for conducting free, fair, impartial and transparent elections in the country within the time frame set by Supreme Court.
This was stated by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Chief Justice (R) Irshad Hassan Khan during an address a technical review meeting of officers of Election Commission here at a hotel on Saturday.
“The target of election commission (EC) is to extend assistance in restoration of true democracy in the country which can only be ensured with holding of flawless elections that reflects the wishes of the people in real sense,” the CEC added.
“The EC will act with neutrality, impartiality, objectivity and independence at every stage of electoral process,” he vowed.
The CEC also expressed the hope that every staff member of EC, right from the lower staff to high officials shall render full support in accomplishing the national task assigned to the EC and CEC under the law.
Mr Irshad Hassan Khan said presently the EC was working on preparation of electoral rolls which, he continued, were closely linked to the democracy and elections and are of primary importance. He also expressed the hope that final voters list would complete in April next.
“The most fundamental form of participation in election is the right to vote in a free and fair manner,” he remarked.
Saying that the ability to exercise the democratic right to vote is premised on the existence of a comprehensive and inclusive electoral list, which is rigorously maintained to ensure, as much as possible, that each eligible citizen was registered to vote at only one place.
In this regard he also cited media campaign launched by EC for registration of every eligible voters of the country.
He said it was a gigantic task as in Pakistan there are around 17 million houses and the strength of voters registration staff is 90,785.
The CEC also informed the participants that the EC was exploring the possibility of making the final electoral rolls available on the internet. The benefits of having the electoral rolls on the internet are immense, he observed.
The EC, he continued, would also explore the possibilities of seeking services of the ministry of science and technology in providing internet access to almost 600 towns and villages across the country.
He said for the purpose of elections to the National Assembly, the EC would divide each province into as many separate territorial constituencies as the number of seats allocated to the province.
Similarly, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the federal capital shall be divided into as many territorial constituencies as the number of seats respectively allocated to the said areas and federal capital.
For the purpose of delimiting constituencies, the EC would receive and consider representations and prepare and publish in the official gazette a preliminary report and list of constituencies specifying the areas proposed to be included in each constituency.
The CEC also thanked the United Nations Development Corporation (UNDP) for extending technical assistance to EC for ensuring proper conduct of elections.
The CEC showed keen interest in presentations on hurdles in women’s participation in elections given by Aneela Qamar of Khwendo Kor and Rakshanda Naz of Aurat Foundation.
Project manager of the UNDP, Ahmed Qadir, informed the participants of the meeting about assistance of the UNDP to EC.—APP
