ISLAMABAD: Setting off a political firestorm, federal Railways Minister and senior vice president of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Azam Swati on Friday accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of receiving “bribes and always” rigging polls before going on to assert that such institutions should be set ablaze.

The senior PTI leader made the caustic remarks during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs held here, with Senator Taj Haider in the chair, for discussion and voting on two key election-related bills.

The remarks, which came only days after the ECP had raised 37 objections to the federal government’s plan to introduce electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next general elections, prompted the ECP team to walk out of the Senate committee meeting in protest.

The meeting had started on a positive note with man of reconciliation, Taj Haider, accepting the controversial appointment of Balochistan Awami Party lawmaker Samina Mumtaz Zehri as the panel’s member ahead of voting, but the pugnacious remarks by the federal minister changed the ambiance.

Senate panel rejects amendments related to EVMs, expatriates’ voting rights, open ballot for Senate polls

Before the committee voted on the proposed amendments, Mr Swati while continuing his tirade claimed that the ECP was poking fun at the government and trying to ruin the democracy in the country. After the PTI leader’s comments, the ECP team led by its special secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain felt impelled to walk out in protest.

Just after the walkout, Senator Farooq H. Naek sarcastically said the government should assume the responsibility for conducting elections by itself and the ECP should not find a mention in the Constitution.

Senator Azam Nazir Tarar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz noted that the government started having a problem whenever the ECP tried to become independent.

Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Railways Minister Swati also exchanged hot words, with the PPP leader asking the latter about the alleged bribe. “Azam Swati should tell us who had paid bribes to the ECP?” he asked. “Was it the PPP or the PML-N?”

A defiant Swati stuck to his guns, saying that he had said “nothing wrong”.

The chair then sent Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan and Senator Kamran Murtaza to convince the ECP officials to rejoin, but they refused.

The ECP officials claimed some ministers a day earlier as well had misbehaved at a meeting at President House.

At one stage, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said the ECP was not above the law and was bound to implement legislation passed by the parliament.

Responding to ECP’s reservations, the PM’s adviser questioned the commission for delaying work on introducing voting machines. “Why do we feel threatened by the technology?” Mr Awan asked.

The ECP, not the government, would decide which machine would be used for voting, he asserted.

The PM’s adviser further said the government had also written a letter to the commission about budget, security and storage of voting machines but it was not responded to.

Treasury members walk out

In an interesting development, the committee members belonging to the PTI-led ruling coalition walked out of the meeting after making a request for allowing Senator Samina Mumtaz, who did not turn up, to join and vote through video link.

In the absence of the treasury bench members, the committee then rejected the proposed amendments concerning voting rights for overseas Pakistanis, use of voting machines in the next general elections and those related to holding of Senate polls through the open ballot.

The federal minister after the meeting said the development had exposed the proponents of status quo. However, he said the legislation concerning introduction of voting machines and right to vote for overseas Pakistanis would be passed at the joint sitting of the parliament.

No answer to objections

The tirade against the ECP by the minister also infuriated opposition lawmakers, who described the PTI’s senior vice president remarks about setting such institution on fire as an act of terrorism.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the threat given by the government, saying that the latter had no valid argument and answer to the reservations over and objections to its unilateral decisions regarding technical and operational problems associated with the voting machines that raised the issue of transparency. But the PTI government stooped down to threats over elections after the opposition rejected its idea of voting machines, he said.

He said the ECP had also raised solid and clear objections but the government had no answer. He said the government bulldozed the legislation in the Parliament and ECP representatives on Friday had to walk out over the attitude of the government representatives.

The threat by ministers to set institutions on fire and send them to hell reflected terrorism and was highly condemnable, he said, questioning the legislative ability and seriousness of the government when it could not simply respond to valid objections in parliamentary committee meeting.

The PML-N held 100 consultative parliamentary meetings over electoral reforms with patience and conviction to address all concerns but the PTI government failed to show patience even in one meeting.

The only way the PTI knew about interaction with the opposition was to throw all their leaders behind bars whenever they raised a valid question, he said.

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz said her party had talked about ‘negative characters’ within institutions, “but the government is threatening to set a whole institution on fire and there is no one to hold them accountable”.

Former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi alleged the government wanted to bring the ECP under its control to rig the elections. He said the ECP mandate was clearly defined in Article 218, 219 and 230 of the Constitution. “If you want to change it, the only way is to amend the constitution,” he said.

He said if the government was serious about electoral reforms, it should discuss ways and means with the opposition to avert stealing of elections. He said the ‘stolen’ elections of 2018 had proved that the country could not make progress without giving respect to ballot.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the PTI attacked democracy and the constitution of Pakistan by threatening, harassing, terrorising and attempting to coerce the ECP and demanded punishment under Article 10 of the 2017 Election Act against the PTI Ministers responsible for it.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman called out the minister’s “seriously inappropriate behaviour”. “If it does not bend to their will, to say a constitutional institution should be burnt down is like saying let’s just dispense with all democratic norms and get on with our model of one-party authoritarianism. Rig the system for us or trash it,” she said.

Fresh diatribe

However, the opposition remained unable to bring the government to its toes, as this time three federal ministers launched a fresh blistering attack on the ECP, with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry accusing the ECP of becoming opposition’s headquarters and alleging that the chief election commissioner (CEC) was acting as a “mouthpiece of the opposition”.

Addressing a press conference with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan and Railways Minister Azam Swati, whose remarks sparked war of words, the information minister said the CEC should not become a tool in the hands of small political parties.

He alleged that the CEC had played politics of ‘stupid’ objections to voting machines. “If they want to do politics, then response will come,” he warned.

He claimed that no political stakeholder was satisfied with the current electoral system, saying the opposition “allege rigging wherever they lose”.

Also, he said: “The logic of ECP is strange; they say the parliament does not have the right to tell them what the system will be, even though the Constitution clearly states elections will be held in accordance with the law.

“You won’t make the law,” he told the ECP, saying the authority to legislate exclusively belonged to the parliament.

Mr Chaudhry said it was not the entire ECP that was opposed to the government proposals but “the chief election commissioner is more interested in acting as a mouthpiece of the opposition.”

He alleged it was possible that the CEC had “personal sympathies” for the PML-N supremo due to his close connections with the latter while also claiming that the government had no problems with that. “But whether it is the election commissioner or any institution, they will have to function while accepting the parliament. No individual can be allowed to undermine the parliament.”

Privilege of parliament

Speaking about what happened in the Senate panel’s meeting, Mr Chaudhry said the behaviour of ECP officials after the minister’s remarks was tantamount to “rejecting the privilege of the parliament”.

He said that if the ECP had reservations over technology, “they should stop playing media-media. If the chief election commissioner wants to do politics like this, then I would invite him to fight elections.”

Mr Chaudhry warned the CEC how he could conduct the next elections if the PTI, being the largest political party in the country, did not have confidence in him. He then called upon the CEC to “review his behaviour and move forward as the head of an institution”.

Turning his guns to the opposition, the federal minister said it was comprised “political dwarfs” and said opposition leaders were only concerned about their “personal court cases”.

“They talk about honouring the vote daily but whenever they get a chance to strike a ‘deal’, they jump at the opportunity,” he alleged.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2021