ISLAMABAD: Controversy surrounding the amended nomination forms for general elections has refused to die with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) asking the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday to direct candidates to give certain information which has been missing from the new forms by June 29.

Information missing from the new forms relates to dual nationality, educational qualification, payment of taxes and details of assets of candidates aspiring to contest the next month general elections. The ECP has set June 29 for allocation of symbols to the contesting candidates and publication of their final list.

Speaking at a press conference, PTI central information secretary Fawad Chaudhry said the ECP could issue directions to candidates to provide the details for which additional forms could be printed.

He said electorates had a right to have the information prior to the polls to make an informed decision.

He said the PTI had been opposing the move to amend the nomination forms from the very beginning. PTI lawmakers had staged a walkout when the bill was being passed, he said, adding that the final draft of the bill did not bear signatures of any member of the PTI. “We had stated at that time the amendment was meant to protect thieves and dacoits. And we stick to our position even today,” he remarked.

When the Elections Act, 2017 had landed in the Senate, PTI parliamentary leader Azam Swati moved an amendment, which was opposed by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

He said all political parties had lauded Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar for declaring that the general elections must not be delayed. “We, too, want timely polls in accordance with the schedule already announced by the ECP,” he added.

He said matters pertaining to nomination papers were a part of rules, which were to be framed by the ECP and not the parliament. He recalled that the Supreme Court had declared the previous nomination forms constitutional and announced that the 2013 general elections would be held on the basis of those forms, rejecting the law ministry’s assertion that the ECP could not amend the nomination forms at its own.

Key appointments

The PTI spokesman also raised objection to the key appointments made by the PML-N government just before the end of its term. He mentioned the appointments of the heads of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) besides Advocate General of Punjab.

He also regretted that Marvi Memon, who had been a member of the National Assembly on a ticket awarded by the PML-N continued to be at the helm of affairs at Rs10 billion Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Earlier in May 2017, a move to amend nomination forms for electoral candidates had put the parliament and the ECP at odds. The proposal made by the then law minister for similar nomination forms for candidates for Senate and the national and provincial assemblies had been opposed by the ECP secretary at a meeting of the subcommittee of the parliamentary panel on electoral reforms.

A senior official of the ECP told Dawn that after the objection was raised, the parliamentary panel preferred not to invite the ECP in subsequent meetings and approved the forms without any consultation with the commission.

He said the form was finally amended through Elections Act, 2017 passed by the parliament.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2018