A RETIRED judge is the new head of the Election Commission. Some grumble about his old age and doubt his ability to perform the arduous task of holding free elections. He can dispel such concerns by immediately solving two clear-cut issues which, in turn, will ensure that elections will be a contest between honest aspirants.

The Constitution lays down the conditions for becoming a lawmaker and the conditions for disqualification for membership. A member is disqualified if ‘found guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice under any law for the time being in force, unless a period of five years has elapsed from the date on which that order takes effect.”

Only 259 of the National Assembly’s 342 members hold only Pakistani nationality. Dual nationality for parliamentarians is forbidden by the constitution. What then about the remaining 83 members? Also what about those who hold dual nationalities in provincial assemblies? This is first issue that can be resolved immediately by the election commissioner by obtaining full data.

The second issue: all aspirants to parliament in the last elections were supposed to hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Large numbers did not fulfil the requirement and, therefore, took the easy route of submitting fake degrees. The Supreme Court asked the election commission and the Higher Education Commission to verify all the documents.

Holders of fraudulent documents were to be reported to courts for action. The HEC claimed that many parliamentarians failed to submit their documents while some were unreadable.

Despite numerous requests, the HEC refused to put on their website the status of the parliamentarians’ degrees, about their submission status and their authenticity.

Again, the election commissioner should demand data from the HEC and act speedily to pass a verdict on the authenticity of the degrees of those who entered parliament in the last election and any further by-elections.

Defrauding the public by covering up their dual nationality or submitting fake graduation certificates (or withholding information) are sufficient reasons for such parliamentarians to be debarred from the next elections.

Will the election commissioner solve these two issues within a few weeks?

Q. ISA DAUDPOTA Islamabad