ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: If an international NGO is to be believed, ten mainstream parties have rejected the code of conduct for elections in its present form and sought extension in the date for sending their input on the draft.

The deadline expires on Thursday (today), according to the Election Commission.

A source in the commission told Dawn on Wednesday that it had received ‘consensus comments’ of the political parties sent through National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Sandra Houston, the resident country director of the NDI, has sent the comments and concerns of the parties collated at a roundtable organised by the institute to Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and EC Secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan.

The document bears signatures of representatives of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F), Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI), National Party (NP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Pakistan Muslim League-F (PML-F) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), formerly PPP-Sherpao.

The source said that so far only Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) had sent its comments directly to the Election Commission. The JI in its comments underlined the need for reviewing the mechanism for ensuring the observance of limit on election expenditure, noting that it was imperative to make the electoral process fair.

The party also underscored the importance of implementing the code of conduct in letter and spirit and said there were hopes after the reconstitution of the Election Commission that attention would be paid to the issue.

The ten political parties in their ‘consensus comments’ observed that a number of the code’s provisions were vague, subject to interpretation and required additional details about enforcement. The representatives of the parties unanimously said the period reserved for giving input on the draft should be extended to allow the EC and the political parties to achieve unanimity on the code of conduct before it was finalised.

They underscored their intention to engage with the EC in a truly consultative process to revise the code and address their priority concerns.

The consensus statement noted that the draft code cited many existing legal provisions. They said the code should emphasise additional and complementary provisions, instead of restating the law.

It said many provisions were unclear and open to multiple interpretations, creating opportunity for fraud, interference, bias or selective application and enforcement. It said several provisions of the code were unreasonable or required significant additional negotiations between the EC and the political parties.

About the ban on provision of vehicles to voters, the statement said the issue of transportation of voters required creative solutions. It stressed that in the absence of legislative reforms, the EC should describe in detail its plan to ensure that tens of millions of voters were not disenfranchised due to a lack of transport option as it would disproportionately impact women, rural and poor voters, and others in areas with security challenges.

It also observed that provisions involving election expenses required clarification and negotiations. It said the code of conduct should also address the post-election period, including dispute resolution provisions.