September 12, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: An independent election watchdog on Thursday said

Feb 18 elections were not free and fair as in numerous cases laws were flouted and ballot boxes stuffed by deceit or by force.

In its two reports, Pakistan Coalition for Free, Fair and Democratic Elections (PACFREL) claimed that the process of rigging was not confined to a single day of elections or the specific place but it started with the announcement of election schedule by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The reports ‘Field Observation Report on Election 2008’ and ‘Numbers speak out about Election 2008’ say that parts of ‘establishment’ remained active in favour of certain political players and against certain others throughout the election process.

PACFREL set up in 2006 is a conglomerate of NGOs, social groups and networks including Aurat Foundation, Ecumenical Advocacy Forum, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Interactive Resource Centre, Pakistan Institute of Labour, Education and Research, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, Strengthening Participatory Organization and Sungi Development Foundation.

PACFREL's reports say due to past experiences popular perceptions about the integrity of the electoral process in Pakistan are dismal.

It attributed the pre-poll rigging to ECP’s lack of action on 600 complaints about rigging. “It dismissed most of them mainly because it did not have people and infrastructure to investigate these complaints at local level,” the reports said.

PACFEL said serious procedural flaws marred the polling including wrong voter lists, wrong ballot papers, women being denied the right to vote, polling agent and presiding officers lacking understanding of electoral laws and election machinery generally supporting PML-Q.

It said polling in many places started late and on average the first vote was cast at 8:30 am, half an hour behind the prescribed time for starting the polling. It said use of force by private individuals, groups, and even by the state was visible.

The reports said most of the foreign observers also viewed the whole process as biased, unfair, and in some cases turning up results contrary to the will of the people. “Many local analysts point out that voter turnout in many constituencies was unrealistically high and in many other areas the winning margins were too huge to be easily believed,” it said.

In its recommendations to ensure fair, free and democratic election, PACFREL said that genuine caretaker government and independent ECP could prove instrumental in holding fair and free elections. It said the law should be implemented in letter and spirit and any candidate or party violating them should be punished accordingly.

It called for removing all curbs on media to cover the elections and help people monitor the whole process to make it transparent. It also demanded that state media should be neutral towards all parties and candidates. It called for improved governance by supporting the democratization process and strengthening electoral processes.