Senate passes bill giving ECP authority to announce election dates

The Senate of Pakistan on Friday approved a bill seeking amendments to the Elections Act 2017 and giving the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the authority to announce election dates.

State Minister Shahadat Awan tabled the bill in the upper house. On the occasion, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar stated that in 1973 the ECP was given the authority to set the date of the election.

However, he added that later then army chief and president Zia-ul-Haq amended the act which stated that the date of election will be given by the president, and the special parliamentary committee reviewed the amendment and approved it.

Leader of the Opposition Shahzad Waseem opposed the proposed bill and said that the “Parliament is being bulldozed”, adding that according to the law, the president and the governor can give the date of the election.

He further stated that “a law in this regard is already present”, saying that “it is not appropriate to give complete authority to the ECP.”

It is pertinent to note that in April the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms approved the amendments in the Elections Act proposed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

The parliamentary committee had approved amendments to sections 57-1 and 58 of the Election Act, 2017.

Previously, Section 57-1 read: “The President shall announce the date or dates of the general elections after consultation with the [Election] Commission [of Pakistan].”

However, this has been amended to authorise the ECP to announce the date for the elections.

As for Section 58, it previously stated: “The Commission may, at any time after the issue of the notification under sub-section (1) of that section [57-1], make such alterations in the Election Programme announced in that notification for the different stages of the election or may issue a fresh Election Programme as may, in its opinion to be recorded in writing, be necessary for the purposes of this Act: Provided that the Commission shall inform the President about any alteration in the Election Programme made under this sub-section.”

However, after the latest change, the commission will no longer have to inform the president about any alteration in the election schedule.

‘Limiting disqualification period’

The bill presented in the Senate also included an amendment to Section 232 (Qualifications and Disqualifications) of the Election Act, 2017.

Under the clause, the bill limits the period of disqualification of a person to a maximum of five years.

The important amendment related to disqualification under Article 62F of the Constitution was presented in the Senate by independent Senator Dilawar, Senator Kahuda Babar, Senator Danesh Kuma, and Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai.

Requesting the Senate to pass the bill today, Senator Dilawar had stated that senior politician Jahangir Khan Tareen and the country’s three-time prime minister and Pakistan Mulsim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif fell victim to this law.

“In the future, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman may also fall victim to this disqualification,” he had added.