ISLAMABAD: The recently-passed election law that has imposed new conditions for registration of political parties has become a nightmare for a large number of the parties that exist on paper only, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued notices to all the 352 parties enlisted with it and asked them to meet its requirements by Dec 2.

Under the new conditions, the parties are required to deposit an enlistment fee of Rs200,000 each and provide a list of at least 2,000 members along with their signatures or thumb impressions, besides copies of their computerised national identity cards.

The notice reminds the parties that under the Elections Act, 2017, they are required to comply with the provisions of its sections 201, 202, 209 and 210 within 60 days of its enforcement.

“In case an enlisted political party fails to comply with the provisions... the Election Commission of Pakistan shall cancel the enlistment of the political party under Section 202(5) of the act,” says the notice.

ECP asks all 352 parties to meet new conditions by Dec 2

Under its Section 4, a political party enlisted by the commission before the commencement of the act shall be deemed to have been enlisted, provided it has filed the required documents, and if not it shall submit the documents within 60 days of the enforcement of the law, according to the notice.

Under its Section 5, if an enlisted party fails to file documents within the stipulated time frame, the commission shall cancel its enlistment after giving it a chance to explain the reasons.

According to an ECP official, under Section 6 of the act, a party that has been refused enlistment or whose registration has been cancelled may, within 30 days of the refusal or cancellation of enlistment, file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

He described the act as a first step towards checking the mushroom growth of political parties in the country and hoped that dozens of inactive parties formed overnight would disappear with their failure to comply with the new conditions.

Before the enactment of the new law, it was very easy for a few individuals to form a party, just for the sake of fun or publicity or some ulterior motives. A document prepared in a drawing room, including copied constitution and manifesto and details of the so-called intra-party elections, were the only requirements for getting a party registered, the official said.

Most of the parties don’t conduct intra-party elections; doing so is otherwise mandatory under the law, which requires that the party chief and other office-bearers of every political party shall be elected periodically in accordance with the party’s constitution through a ballot based on a democratic and transparent system.

The smaller parties are unlikely to comply with the requirement when even the major parties are seen to be holding sham elections.

Prior to the 2013 general elections, the number of parties enlisted with the ECP outnumbered the available election symbols when it climbed to 216. Currently, the number of registered political parties stands at 352.

Under the law, no political party is allowed to “promote sectarian, regional and provincial hatred”, but many of them are working on the agenda of spreading sectarian hatred. Even some banned outfits have managed to get their political fronts registered.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017