KARACHI, Aug 19: Political parties have urged the government and the election commission to take urgent measures to remove “a very big lacuna” in the election law created by the requirement of submitting certificates showing party candidature with the nomination papers.
“This amounts to pre-poll rigging being resorted to by the military regime against our party,” said the Pakistan People’s Party’s deputy secretary-general, Raza Rabbani, on Monday.
His contention that this change in the rules has been made “with the sole purpose of preventing our party from contesting on many seats, which it is most likely to win, or where the favourites of the present regime are contesting the elections”.
The PPP deputy secretary-general said his party had approached the election commission to seek the removal of this condition, which is violative of the election rules, and to ask it to revert to the previous procedure.
Under the new arrangement, if the papers of the party candidate are rejected, it will not be possible for any party to field alternative candidates to contest from that constituency, and the constituency will thus go uncontested by the political party.
In the absence of any specific law, allowing the political parties to issue certificates to cover candidates as well, they cannot issue certificates to all the probables because of legal implications.
According to sources, election commission officials have verbally told political parties that in case nomination papers of their main candidate, who had submitted their certificates, were rejected, the other candidate who had shown his affiliation with the party would be considered. But the political parties want this to be confirmed in writing. The secretary of the election commission was not available on phone to confirm or deny this.
Dr Farooq Sattar, deputy convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, said: “This is a serious lacuna in the election laws and unless it is removed it would make the elections a farce.”
He said this would deprive political parties of their fundamental right to contest elections on all seats.
He thought that this new condition would give the regime enough opportunities to eliminate strong candidates of the party before elections were actually held.
The new rule has created problems for the political parties, especially the mainstream parties, in deciding the final list of their candidates.
They have sought clarification from the election commission owing to its far-reaching implications for the political parties, particularly in the context of their total percentage of votes cast in their favour, and their claims with regard to reserved seats for minorities and women seats.
Under the rules existing previously, this certificate was submitted at the last stage when applications for the allotment of election symbols were invited.
Previously candidates used to submit their nomination papers which were scrutinized (accepted or rejected) the following day. Those whose papers were rejected, were given the right to appeal the rejection of their papers. After deciding appeals, a final list of those whose papers had been found in order was notified.
At that stage, applications for allotment of election symbols were invited and applicants being party candidates were required to produce a certificate issued by their party to be eligible to be allotted the election symbol of that party.
Political parties normally fielded cover candidates besides their main candidates to ensure that if any discrepancy was discovered in the nomination papers of the main candidate, one of the cover candidates could avail himself of the party certificate and contest the elections as a party candidate with the election symbol of the party. When the main candidates, fielded by the party, were allotted the party symbol, cover candidates normally withdrew their papers.
