ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declined to share the requisite information on election expenses and other financial matters to a Senate panel, pointing out that being an independent body, it was out of the standing committee’s purview under the constitution.

The agenda set for Senate’s standing committee on parliamentary affairs for its Tuesday meeting included a comprehensive briefing by ECP secretary Omar Hamid Khan on the total expenses incurred by the commission for its constitutional responsibilities, salaries and travel expenses of its members and employees, and other ancillary expenditures made by the commission during the last financial year.

The panel had also sought details of expenses incurred during the Feb 8 general elections, with a province-wise breakup, number of officers working in the commission, their present posting and designations, basic pay scale, qualifications and domicile.

In response to the Senate committee’s notice of Aug 19, Omar Hamid informed the parliamentary affairs secretary that its notice was placed before the commission for consideration and appropriate order.

The subject was deliberated upon and the commission though believed in transparency and accountability, it was not obliged to provide the requisite information to the Senate committee, except to assist on legislative business pertaining to the election laws and constitutional provisions, as per its defined role under the rules, the ECP secretary wrote in his letter to the parliamentary affairs secretary.

Piqued by ECP response, PTI senator vows to raise the issue with privileges committee

Mr Khan told the government that the Senate committee was empowered to examine inter-alia the expenditures, administration and policies of a ministry or its associated public bodies. However, he explained, the ECP constituted under Article 218(2) performs functions and duties as an independent body. Unlike the government ministries/divisions and their associated public bodies, the ECP neither represented the federal government nor any provincial government, he said.

The ECP did not form part of any ministry, division bodies, and was therefore, outside the purview of the Senate standing committee on parliamentary affairs, he added.

Besides, administrative expenditure, including ECP remuneration, was ‘charged’ against the Federal Consolidated Fund under Article 81, the letter mentioned. Accordingly, it added, the budget allocated to the ECP was not voted in the NA for inclusion in the annual budget statement as provided in Article 82(1).

Senate panel meeting

Referring to the ECP letter, PTI senator and chairman of the standing committee Humayun Mohmand said the ECP claimed it was not answerable to parliament that had created the commission through legislation.

“They say they are not answerable to you. We can call Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner,” the committee chairman asserted.

The parliamentary affairs secretary was of the opinion that the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs included ECP’s legislative matters. PTI senator Mohsin Aziz said the letter should be rejected, pointing out that the commission had attended the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee.

However, again, the parliamentary affairs secretary proposed that the matter should be sent to the Senate chairman for his guidance and opinion. “I will move the Privileges Committee on this. This is a mockery of Senate,” the PTI senator remarked.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2024