Elections in Pakistan invariably throw up allegations of fraud. Imran Khan and his PTI raised such a rumpus following the 2013 general election that the victorious PML-N was forced to form a judicial commission which is now probing their allegations that that election was systematically rigged.

But the shoe is on the other foot after last week’s local government elections in PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. And a blame game is on.

While the PTI finds itself on the receiving end in the insidious game, its defence is that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed “to fulfill its constitutional role in conducting the polls in a transparent manner”. Its foes, who now include coalition partner Jamaat Islami, on the other hand, accuse “Imran Khan and company” of influencing the outcome of Sunday’s local government elections.

Indeed, ANP, a tough competitor of the PTI in the province, took Imran Khan’s offer of re-election as “proof” of the charge that the ruling party did rig the local councils’ election.

Some political analysts read “revenge” in the unprecedented criticism of PTI from all mainstream political parties whose leaders Imran Khan had called by name as the product of “a corrupt system” in his daily harangues during PTI’s 126-day sit-in outside the parliament in Islamabad to demand a judicial probe into his charge that 2013 general election was massively rigged.

A member of the federal government accepted off the record that “the PTI has been made to face what it had been doing to rest of the political parties for two years – maligning them with unsubstantiated allegations of rigging”. He agreed that ECP image also suffered in the process “which is not good for electoral politics”.

While PTI’s allegations about 2013 general election would soon be settled by the Judicial Inquiry Commission, the ECP’s reputation is sadly set to suffer more in the political point scoring that is going on. Imran Khan once had called for the resignation of all four provincial chief commissioners to clear the name of ECP and his opponents too find ECP at fault for not stopping the PTI government’s “interference” in the local government election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Several political analysts and constitutional experts feel that the ECP and the PTI-led provincial government share the blame for the sordid saga that the election became. The violence-raked elections took lives of more than 20 people and led to the arrest of one former and one sitting member of the provincial governments.

Former law minister S. M. Zafar says that the ECP enjoys all kinds of constitutional powers for conducting polls in a peaceful manner where voters can exercise their right to vote without any fear.

“There is absolutely no ambiguity that members of the election commission and the CEC can pass orders just like the Supreme Court,” he told Dawn. “Hence, for all practical purposes, the responsibility of holding elections rests entirely with the commission. However, keeping law and order situation under control on the occasion is a collective responsibility of the ECP and the government.”

If the incumbent government says it has nothing to do with the police and overall administration of the province on the day of elections, he said “it’s not the whole truth.” Even when the entire provincial bureaucracy and police were at the beck and call of the ECP, he said the provincial government knew more about the dynamics of local politics and should have taken precautionary measures.

About the ECP coming under increasing pressure of the politicians, Mr Zafar said such pressure would keep building as long the commission members do not act assertively, using the powers they are vested with. If the ECP believed scattering the elections was the best mode to hold them in the province, it should have gone ahead with that. “Nobody would have challenged commission’s autonomy,” he added.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015

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