Election Commission of Pakistan

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

This article is about the body which oversees elections in Pakistan. For similar title in other jurisdictions, see Election Commission.
Election Commission of Pakistan
Emblem of the Election Commission of Pakistan.svg
Agency overview
Formed March 23, 1956; 69 years ago (1956-03-23)[1]
(17 October; National voters day[2])
Preceding
Jurisdiction Constitution of Pakistan
Headquarters Islamabad Capital Venue
Motto ان تودوا الامنٰت الىٰ اهلها = to render the trusts (such as the affairs of the state) to their owners (those who are competent to it), Quran 4:58
Agency executives
Website www.ecp.gov.pk

The Election Commission of Pakistan (Urdu: الیکشن کمیشن پاکستان‎), is an independent, autonomous,permanent and constitutionally established federal institution responsible for the supervision of all elections to state parliament, provisional legislatures, local governments, of indirect elections of the President of Pakistan and preparation of Electoral Rolls.The commission supervises and oversees fair and impartial general election process all over the country as per the principles enlightened by the Constitution of Pakistan. The election commission was first formed on 23 March 1956 and has been restructured and reformed in various occasions of history of the country.[1] [5]

Under the Article 213 & 216I, the Chief Election commissioner and four retired judges of High Courts from respective Province four provinces of the country, whom are appointed by the President in the manner provided in the clauses (2A) and (2B) of Article 213 of constitution .[6] As of present, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza is the current Chief Election Commissioner.[7] Election Commission of Pakistan have 4 members panel from all the four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) . The Commission transacts its business by holding meetings. All members of the Election Commission have equal status and say in the decisions of the Commission. The President of Pakistan appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and four members of Election Commission of Pakistan. The Prime Minister & Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly recommends three names for appointment of CEC & for each Member to a parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person against each post.

List of Members

List of Members
Name Province
Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza[8] Chief Election Commissioner
Justice (R) Muhammad Roshan Essani Member (Sindh)
Justice (R) Riaz Kiyani Member (Punjab)
Justice (R) Shahzad Akbar Khan Member (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Justice (R) Fazal-ur-Rehman Member (Balochistan)
List of Officers
Officers Position
Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad Secretary ECP
Syed Sher Afgan Additional Secretary (TRE)
Fida Muhammad Additional Secretary (Admn)
Brig ( R ) Abbas Ali Khan Director General Administration
Vacant Additional Director General Elections
Mr. Mujahid Hussain Additional Director General (ER)
Vacant Additional Director General(Budget)
Mr. Muhammad Arshad Khan Additional Director General(Legal)
Vacant Additional Director General (Public Relations)
Mr. Muhammad Khizer Aziz Director General (Information Technology)
Mr. Babar Malik Director (MIS)
Mr. Muhammad Rasheed Bhatti Director
Mr. Shahid Iqbal Director
Mr. Altaf Ahmed Director Public Relations
List of Provincial Election Commissioners
Provincial Election Commissioners Province
Talib Hussain Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
ZAFAR Iqbal Hussain Punjab
Syed Sultan Bayazeed Balochistan
Tanveer Zakki (Acting PEC Charge) Sindh

Functions and Constitutional definition

The functions and duties are defined and set by the Constitution of Pakistan in Article 239I in Chapter1. The Commission charged with the following duties:

  1. Preparing electoral rolls for election to the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies, Local Government Election and revising such rolls annually,
  2. Organizing and conducting election to the Senate or to fill casual vacancies in a House or a Provincial Assembly; and appointing Election Tribunals
  3. the holding of general elections to the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and the local governments; and
  4. Such other functions as may be specified by an Act of State Parliament.

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

For the purpose of each national general election to the State Parliament (National Assembly) and to a Provincial legislatures (Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan), an Election Commission shall be constituted in accordance with the Article 239G. It shall be the duty of the Election Commission constituted in relation to an election to organize and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against.

— Article 218–219: Election Commissions; Part-VIII, Chapter:1 Chief Election Commissioner, source: The Constitution of Pakistan[9]

Autonomy and independence

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Free and fair election

The Commission has retains its independence, full financial autonomy and functions independently of all government control.[10] Without the government interference, the commission performs its functions and conduct of nationwide general elections as well as for the by-elections which is decided by the chief commission or the Election Commission itself.[11] The preparation of polling schemes, the appointment of polling personnel, assignments of voters and arrangements for the maintenance of law and order are under the control, supervision and directions of the Election Commission.[10]

During its rulings and judgements in the case " Election Commission v. Javed Hashmi, the Supreme Court held that "in the election matters the Election Tribunals which are to be appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner" have exclusive jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of all courts in such matters was excluded.[12] However, this is subject to an exception that where no legal remedy is available to an aggrieved party during the process of election or after its completion, against an order of an election functionary which is patently illegal jurisdiction.[12] The effect of which is to defranchise a candidate, candidate can press into service Constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court.[12] The Supreme Court of Pakistan has since then consistently followed this judgment.[12]

Transaction of business

The Commission transacts its business by holding meetings. All members of the Election Commission have equal status and say in the decisions of the Commission.

Judicial review

Judicial review of the decisions of the Election Commission can be sought in the High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan if the order suffers from a jurisdictional defect or is mala fide or coram non judice.

Budget and expenditure

The budget of the Election Commission is provided by the federal government.

Any re-appropriation within the sanctioned budget can be done by the Chief Election Commissioner without making any reference to the Finance Division.

Funds required for preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of General Elections and by-elections are provided in lump sum by the Finance Division according to the requirements of the Election Commission.

Further distribution of funds to the various functionaries is done with the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner.

International support

The Election Support Group, an internationally supported group of interested parties, made 32 specific recommendations to the Election Commission based on the recommendations of 16 international organizations.[13] A meeting was held in October 2009 to present these ideas to the Commission.[14] The Commission commissioned ESG to provide them with a recommendations on how to best solve the addressed problems.[14]

Also, in 2006, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems implemented a 9 million dollar contract through USAID to install a computerised electoral rolls system for the Pakistani government.[15]

See also

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ http://ecp.gov.pk/sp/cec-message.html
  4. ↑ http://ecp.gov.pk/Management/Management.aspx
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ http://www.ecp.gov.pk/Aboutus.aspx
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Computerised electoral rolls system installed Daily Times (Pakistan), September 10, 2008. Accessed July 23, 2009.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Election_Commission_of_Pakistan&oldid=1503394"