There is an overwhelming consensus in the country that significant electoral reforms are needed to improve the quality of the electoral process and preclude allegations of rigging and fraud that tar the legitimacy of the exercise and subsequently lead to political instability. Accordingly, a committee on electoral reform comprising 33 members from across the party-political spectrum, including PTI, in both houses of parliament has been set up. This should not be cynically shrugged away since such parliamentary committees have demonstrated a seriousness of purpose and utility in recent times – cases in point being the committees that cobbled a clutch of consensus amendments to the constitution, laws against women’s harassment and most recently the PPO.
The demand for a close scrutiny of the election process has originated from the PTI. Indeed, in a sweeping critique of the former chief justice of Pakistan, the CEC/ECP, ROs and the Punjab and Sindh caretaker administrations, Imran Khan has desperately tried to build a case for mid-term elections by alleging that the elections were “stolen” from him by the PLMN. But the charge is not substantiated by the conclusions of various neutral and professional election monitors like PILDAT, FAFEN, NDI, EU, HRCP, etc. Indeed, each independent monitor has accepted the fact that the electoral process in 2013 was better than ever before even as each has pointed to flaws and misgivings on various counts. The proof of the pudding is now available in the form of results of the 410 electoral petitions filed before election tribunals. By May 31, 2014, 301 such petitions had been decided; the delays are equally spread over the contesting parties – 21 out of PTI’s 58 and 28 out of PMLN’s 66 are still pending; PTI has had a zero success rate in 37 petitions and PMLN only four successes out of 38; the tribunals have de-seated two PTI candidates and nine PMLN winners. This is to say that the PTI’s charges are politically motivated because the gap between its charges of deliberate and premeditated electoral fraud and the facts on the ground is insurmountable.
Nonetheless, a strong case for further electoral reform has been made out. There were irregularities in pre-voting processes, voter identification procedures, ballot and counterfoil processing, voter facilitation and secrecy, ballot stuffing and polling station capture, influencing voters and election officials, closing of polling and vote counting procedures, result documentation and dissemination, and incidents of intimidation and violence were common.
Equally, the PTI’s broad recommendations are fair and should become the starting point of any such exercise. The system of selecting the CEC and members of ECP has to be improved; the ROs should be legally accountable to the ECP for their performance in the conduct of elections; post-election appeals must be concluded within 120 days; elections must be held under a foolproof biometric system and EVMs must be introduced for voting with a paper trail; caretaker chief ministers and cabinets must not be permitted to hold public office for two years after overseeing any election; and overseas Pakistanis must be facilitated in exercising their voting rights.
That said, there is no justification in Imran Khan’s demand for a mid-term election as evidenced by a couple of recent polls. Despite its inability to provide quick economic relief to the masses, most people still want the PMLN government to complete its term. Despite the inefficiencies and corruptions of democracy, most people still prefer it to dictatorship. Despite their differences and ambitions, most opposition parties want the PMLN government to survive. Indeed, there is no way Imran Khan can use street power to topple the government without a military intervention that amounts to a coup. And it is inconceivable that any coup will be tailored to fit Imran Khan’s political ambitions.
The best antidote to any creeping coup is good civilian government. This is the lesson of Turkey under Erdogan. He has been able to harness the military by winning three elections in a row and stitching up his relations with the Kurds and Greece that necessitated military overreach and dependence. Nawaz Sharif’s mistake has been to try and redress the civil-military imbalance without building the objective conditions for such an exercise. This has alienated the military and encouraged the likes of Imran Khan and Dr Tahir ul Qadri to sharpen their knives.
The establishment of a parliamentary electoral reforms committee in which the PTI has agreed to participate is a good first step. The PMLN should follow up by holding direct talks with PTI aimed at diffusing the political tension in the run-up to August 14. Then the PM should shuffle the cabinet and put a gloss of efficiency over the government. Finally, the government should assuage the military by letting General Musharraf off the hook and freezing the FIA inquiry into Asghar Khan’s charge against the ISI for funding and fudging the 1990 elections. This will take the steam out of the conspirators and allow the government to live to fight another day.
The demand for a close scrutiny of the election process has originated from the PTI. Indeed, in a sweeping critique of the former chief justice of Pakistan, the CEC/ECP, ROs and the Punjab and Sindh caretaker administrations, Imran Khan has desperately tried to build a case for mid-term elections by alleging that the elections were “stolen” from him by the PLMN. But the charge is not substantiated by the conclusions of various neutral and professional election monitors like PILDAT, FAFEN, NDI, EU, HRCP, etc. Indeed, each independent monitor has accepted the fact that the electoral process in 2013 was better than ever before even as each has pointed to flaws and misgivings on various counts. The proof of the pudding is now available in the form of results of the 410 electoral petitions filed before election tribunals. By May 31, 2014, 301 such petitions had been decided; the delays are equally spread over the contesting parties – 21 out of PTI’s 58 and 28 out of PMLN’s 66 are still pending; PTI has had a zero success rate in 37 petitions and PMLN only four successes out of 38; the tribunals have de-seated two PTI candidates and nine PMLN winners. This is to say that the PTI’s charges are politically motivated because the gap between its charges of deliberate and premeditated electoral fraud and the facts on the ground is insurmountable.
Nonetheless, a strong case for further electoral reform has been made out. There were irregularities in pre-voting processes, voter identification procedures, ballot and counterfoil processing, voter facilitation and secrecy, ballot stuffing and polling station capture, influencing voters and election officials, closing of polling and vote counting procedures, result documentation and dissemination, and incidents of intimidation and violence were common.
Equally, the PTI’s broad recommendations are fair and should become the starting point of any such exercise. The system of selecting the CEC and members of ECP has to be improved; the ROs should be legally accountable to the ECP for their performance in the conduct of elections; post-election appeals must be concluded within 120 days; elections must be held under a foolproof biometric system and EVMs must be introduced for voting with a paper trail; caretaker chief ministers and cabinets must not be permitted to hold public office for two years after overseeing any election; and overseas Pakistanis must be facilitated in exercising their voting rights.
That said, there is no justification in Imran Khan’s demand for a mid-term election as evidenced by a couple of recent polls. Despite its inability to provide quick economic relief to the masses, most people still want the PMLN government to complete its term. Despite the inefficiencies and corruptions of democracy, most people still prefer it to dictatorship. Despite their differences and ambitions, most opposition parties want the PMLN government to survive. Indeed, there is no way Imran Khan can use street power to topple the government without a military intervention that amounts to a coup. And it is inconceivable that any coup will be tailored to fit Imran Khan’s political ambitions.
The best antidote to any creeping coup is good civilian government. This is the lesson of Turkey under Erdogan. He has been able to harness the military by winning three elections in a row and stitching up his relations with the Kurds and Greece that necessitated military overreach and dependence. Nawaz Sharif’s mistake has been to try and redress the civil-military imbalance without building the objective conditions for such an exercise. This has alienated the military and encouraged the likes of Imran Khan and Dr Tahir ul Qadri to sharpen their knives.
The establishment of a parliamentary electoral reforms committee in which the PTI has agreed to participate is a good first step. The PMLN should follow up by holding direct talks with PTI aimed at diffusing the political tension in the run-up to August 14. Then the PM should shuffle the cabinet and put a gloss of efficiency over the government. Finally, the government should assuage the military by letting General Musharraf off the hook and freezing the FIA inquiry into Asghar Khan’s charge against the ISI for funding and fudging the 1990 elections. This will take the steam out of the conspirators and allow the government to live to fight another day.