Fair polls: Pakistan army contacts Election Commission for Karachi voters’ verification

Pakistan army has contacted the Election Commission for its possible cooperation in the upcoming door-to-door voters’ verification campaign in Karachi, the Secretary Election, Ishtiaq Ahmad said on Wednesday.

Last week, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out a fresh door-to-door verification of voters in the city with the assistance of the army and the Frontier Corps.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, heading a bench, had taken up petitions by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had moved the court seeking verification of voter lists.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement had expressed reservations over the verdict and had called for voters verification across  the country.  The MQM had said it would support it only if the exercise covered the entire country, and not only Karachi.

The petitioners had claimed that nearly 50 percent of the voters have been shifted from Karachi to their native villages without their consent and despite the fact that they have been settled in Karachi for 10 years.

Justice Saeed, on the bench, accepted the fact that free, fair, honest, transparent and just election was the demand of the day as the parliamentary system in the country was strengthening day by day.

“…In view of the peculiar security situation in Karachi highlighted hereinabove such verification must be carried out by the Election Commission with the help and assistance of Pakistan Army and the FC,” the 24-page judgment said.

“Therefore, all eligible citizens have a fundamental right of franchise which must be protected by issuing appropriate directions.”

The judgment added that, in accordance with Article 219 of the Constitution, read with the Electoral Rolls Act, 1974, “The Election Commission of Pakistan is directed to carry out proper and complete door-to-door verification in Karachi so as to ensure that no voter is disenfranchised or dislocated and all other discrepancies are rectified as early as possible.”

The Election Commission had accepted the apex court order a day after the verdict was delivered.

The Secretary Election Commission said that the verification drive will start on January 1^st and will be completed in two months. He told reporters in Islamabad that nearly 15 political parties had submitted submitted applications with the Commission for voters verification.

He said the Supreme Court had also sent a copy of the order to the army and the armed forces are also bound to accept the court’s orders. He disclosed that the army had contacted the the Election Commission in Karachi.

Hamid Khan, lawyer of PTI, says that the petition was moved in view of complaints by the residents in Karachi that their votes had been shifted to their native villages without their consent and despite the fact that they had been living in Karachi for years.

About the MQM demand for verification of voters across the country, Khan said that there had been no collective complaints of voters transfer and some individuals have raised the issue in Punjab.

Meanwhile TV channels quoted the army sources as saying that the army has not yet officially contacted the Election Commission about the voters verification campaign.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36073

Posted by Tahir Khan on Dec 12 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics, South Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.