Change in line with the Constitution
Courtesy:- Malik Muhammad Ashraf
There are no two opinions about the fact that the people at large are weary of the prevalent political system in the country which has encouraged the culture of graft and entitlement and they want reforms that can make the system truly representative and responsive to the popular will. They desire the required changes through a constitutional and democratic process and not through the theatrics like the one enacted by Tahir Ul Qadri or the adventures of the self-styled saviours.
It is indeed gratifying to note that in spite of the difficult circumstances and the hardships that the people have had to go through due to a slew of extraneous and internal factors inherited by the PPP-led coalition, they have not lost their faith in democracy, as was evident from the impregnable unity shown by all the political parties-in the face of the threat posed to the system by the Qadri show--- to ensure that the democratic process stayed on course and a smooth transition of power took place through ballot. Due credit must also be given to the government for thwarting the designs of the anti-democracy forces during the last five years and also handling the long march in an admirable manner, notwithstanding Qadri’s aggressive, hostile and provocative posture towards it.
Now that the smooth transfer of power through ballot is almost assured it is incumbent upon all the political parties to cooperate and support the election commission in making sure that the elections are held in a fair and transparent manner. The Election Commission is an autonomous and constitutional body. It enjoys all the powers that are needed to hold free, fair and transparent elections under The Representation of People Act 1976, The Representation of People Rules 1977 and Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution and to ascertain the eligibility of the candidates. An incisive look at these legislations and constitutional provisions reveals that combined together these legal instruments are adequate enough for the purpose and no new legislation as such is required in this regard. Under these laws the Commission is empowered to seek information from any state institution or organization or the government department regarding the persons desiring to contest the elections including their criminal records, default on the loans, non payment of taxes and any other information that it deems necessary to ascertain the eligibility of the candidates as per law. All the institutions are bound to provide the sought information to the commission.
There is almost a consensus on the point that the representatives of the people must have higher moral standards and their character should be beyond any reproach. The already existing legislations empower the election commission to determine the eligibility of the candidates. All that it has to do is to take administrative measures to implement all the relevant legal and constitutional provisions and allow itself sufficient time to ascertain and obtain all the relevant and verifiable data. Presently, it carries out the scrutiny of the papers within three days of the filing of the nominations supported by affidavits of the candidates in regards to loans, taxes and criminal records. That indeed is not a sufficient time to carry out the scrutiny. What the Election Commission can do is that it can make it obligatory on the political parties to present the names of their likely candidates in each constituency to the commission one month before the term of the assembly expires and it may then have their antecedents verified from all the relevant organizations and notify the results to the parties concerned so that there is no confusion at the time of the filing of nomination papers after the dissolution of the assemblies and the elections are held within 60 days as per the constitutional requirement. All the political parties must lend unqualified support to the Commission in this regard.
The political parties must also avoid generating any confusion or doubt about the credibility of elections and the ability of the Election Commission to hold free, fair and transparent elections. Similarly the installing of the caretaker Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers in the provinces must also be ensured strictly in accordance with the constitution and no new issues should be raised in this regard at the this juncture. I fail to understand why PTI seems so fussy about the appointment of the care taker Prime Minister. The present constitutional arrangement is perfectly all right. If the apprehension is that the caretaker Prime Minister can influence the results of the elections, it is totally unfounded.
The elections are to be held by the Election Commission which is an independent body. The role of the care-taker setup will only be to facilitate the Election Commission in the smooth conduct of the elections and maintaining law and order. It can neither promulgate any legislation to influence the elections nor change the existing rules. Similarly the contention by Imran Khan that free and fair elections cannot be held under the stewardship of Zardari and he should therefore resign, is also quite absurd and untenable. First, he has the constitutional right to be there for five years unless he is impeached for the reasons mentioned in the constitution and through the prescribed mechanism. No such reason exists and therefore the demand is unconstitutional and seems senseless coming from a person who cries hoarse from every convenient roof top to profess his belief in the constitution. Then again, like the Prime Minister, the President has no role in the conduct of the elections. Any agitation or a long march on these non issues might lead to circumstances that could delay the elections. Similarly the demand by Nawaz Sharif that the government should immediately announce the election date, is also a frivolous ploy to get at the government. The term of the government is to expire on 16 March and the assembly in any case will be dissolved on or before that date and according to the constitution the elections will have to be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the assembly.
It is therefore time for the political parties to focus more on selling there manifestoes to the public and tell the public how they contemplate to bring about systemic changes that are required and how long it will take them to implement them. What economic policies they are likely to put in place to revive the economy and how do they envisage strategy to tackle the challenges like terrorism, improve security situation in the country and resolve the Balochistan conundrum.
There are no two opinions about the fact that the people at large are weary of the prevalent political system in the country which has encouraged the culture of graft and entitlement and they want reforms that can make the system truly representative and responsive to the popular will. They desire the required changes through a constitutional and democratic process and not through the theatrics like the one enacted by Tahir Ul Qadri or the adventures of the self-styled saviours.
It is indeed gratifying to note that in spite of the difficult circumstances and the hardships that the people have had to go through due to a slew of extraneous and internal factors inherited by the PPP-led coalition, they have not lost their faith in democracy, as was evident from the impregnable unity shown by all the political parties-in the face of the threat posed to the system by the Qadri show--- to ensure that the democratic process stayed on course and a smooth transition of power took place through ballot. Due credit must also be given to the government for thwarting the designs of the anti-democracy forces during the last five years and also handling the long march in an admirable manner, notwithstanding Qadri’s aggressive, hostile and provocative posture towards it.
Now that the smooth transfer of power through ballot is almost assured it is incumbent upon all the political parties to cooperate and support the election commission in making sure that the elections are held in a fair and transparent manner. The Election Commission is an autonomous and constitutional body. It enjoys all the powers that are needed to hold free, fair and transparent elections under The Representation of People Act 1976, The Representation of People Rules 1977 and Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution and to ascertain the eligibility of the candidates. An incisive look at these legislations and constitutional provisions reveals that combined together these legal instruments are adequate enough for the purpose and no new legislation as such is required in this regard. Under these laws the Commission is empowered to seek information from any state institution or organization or the government department regarding the persons desiring to contest the elections including their criminal records, default on the loans, non payment of taxes and any other information that it deems necessary to ascertain the eligibility of the candidates as per law. All the institutions are bound to provide the sought information to the commission.
There is almost a consensus on the point that the representatives of the people must have higher moral standards and their character should be beyond any reproach. The already existing legislations empower the election commission to determine the eligibility of the candidates. All that it has to do is to take administrative measures to implement all the relevant legal and constitutional provisions and allow itself sufficient time to ascertain and obtain all the relevant and verifiable data. Presently, it carries out the scrutiny of the papers within three days of the filing of the nominations supported by affidavits of the candidates in regards to loans, taxes and criminal records. That indeed is not a sufficient time to carry out the scrutiny. What the Election Commission can do is that it can make it obligatory on the political parties to present the names of their likely candidates in each constituency to the commission one month before the term of the assembly expires and it may then have their antecedents verified from all the relevant organizations and notify the results to the parties concerned so that there is no confusion at the time of the filing of nomination papers after the dissolution of the assemblies and the elections are held within 60 days as per the constitutional requirement. All the political parties must lend unqualified support to the Commission in this regard.
The political parties must also avoid generating any confusion or doubt about the credibility of elections and the ability of the Election Commission to hold free, fair and transparent elections. Similarly the installing of the caretaker Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers in the provinces must also be ensured strictly in accordance with the constitution and no new issues should be raised in this regard at the this juncture. I fail to understand why PTI seems so fussy about the appointment of the care taker Prime Minister. The present constitutional arrangement is perfectly all right. If the apprehension is that the caretaker Prime Minister can influence the results of the elections, it is totally unfounded.
The elections are to be held by the Election Commission which is an independent body. The role of the care-taker setup will only be to facilitate the Election Commission in the smooth conduct of the elections and maintaining law and order. It can neither promulgate any legislation to influence the elections nor change the existing rules. Similarly the contention by Imran Khan that free and fair elections cannot be held under the stewardship of Zardari and he should therefore resign, is also quite absurd and untenable. First, he has the constitutional right to be there for five years unless he is impeached for the reasons mentioned in the constitution and through the prescribed mechanism. No such reason exists and therefore the demand is unconstitutional and seems senseless coming from a person who cries hoarse from every convenient roof top to profess his belief in the constitution. Then again, like the Prime Minister, the President has no role in the conduct of the elections. Any agitation or a long march on these non issues might lead to circumstances that could delay the elections. Similarly the demand by Nawaz Sharif that the government should immediately announce the election date, is also a frivolous ploy to get at the government. The term of the government is to expire on 16 March and the assembly in any case will be dissolved on or before that date and according to the constitution the elections will have to be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the assembly.
It is therefore time for the political parties to focus more on selling there manifestoes to the public and tell the public how they contemplate to bring about systemic changes that are required and how long it will take them to implement them. What economic policies they are likely to put in place to revive the economy and how do they envisage strategy to tackle the challenges like terrorism, improve security situation in the country and resolve the Balochistan conundrum.
Comments
Post a Comment