EU observers declare elections ‘transparent’ with reservations

ISLAMABAD: The European Union Election Observation Mission on Friday declared the recently held general elections transparent and well conducted. “On the election day, polling was assessed as well-conducted and transparent,” said EU Chief Observer Michael Gahler while releasing the preliminary statement on the election. On 25 July, over 120 EU observers observed the opening, voting, counting and tabulation processes at 582 polling stations and tabulation centres in 113 constituencies in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Islamabad. Gahler said the election results that gave Imran Khan a win were credible.”Over all the election results are credible,” he said. In its initial findings, the mission also observed that Pakistani military had not interfered in the voting process. According to the EU EOM, the legal framework of the Election Act, 2017, provides an adequate basis for the conduct of elections in line with international standards.”The Election Act, 2017, has significantly improved the legal framework particularly by increasing powers for the ECP, introducing greater transparency requirements and measures aimed at enhancing women’s participation.” However, the Mission did observe that the legal framework still contains significant gaps that need to be addressed. Praising the ECP for the way the election was conducted, the EU EOM observed that the commission is an independent constitutional body with powers and responsibility to conduct elections.”In the last two years, ECP’s leadership has undertaken initiatives to improve its capacity, transparency and accountability,” the Mission said, observing that the level of confidence in the institution has increased due to regular consultations with political parties and civil society organisations. The EU EOM also observed that the ECP adopted innovative methods to improve women and minority participation in the elections and also tried to introduce new technologies to improve public outreach. The Mission admitted that technical aspects of the election process were well-administered and that the ECP did meet operational deadlines.”However, due to court decisions on the validity of candidate nomination forms, the ECP had to twice extend candidate nomination and scrutiny deadlines,” it noted. While the Mission maintained that the voting was well-conducted, it said that the counting process was problematic and that staff did not always follow procedure.”However, as should be the case in a civilian exercise, it was the presiding officers who were in charge of the process,” EU EOM said, adding that party agents were present in almost all polling stations it observed. Commenting on the Result Transmission System (RTS) system, the EU EOM acknowledged that result submission from polling stations was severely delayed as the tabulation system encountered ‘serious technical problems’. The Mission also noted that returning officers were not able to receive original result forms and report in a timely manner to the ECP on the progress of results. The report mentioned that the ECP explained that the RTS had not been tested in Pakistan before and thus failed to meet the legal deadline to announce provisional results received via RMS by 2:00. This also resulted in petitions to higher courts relating to candidacy resulted in delayed printing of ballot papers in some 100 constituencies. The Mission said that a number of violent attacks, targeting political parties, party leaders, candidates and election officials, affected the campaign environment. The observers noted the presence of security personnel inside and outside the polling stations in the polling stations observed. “At times, they checked voter ID cards and directed voters to the right queue.” Another interesting observation made in the preliminary statement says that security force officials recorded and transmitted the results, giving the impression of an ongoing parallel tabulation. The Mission noted that the campaign for the general elections featured a ‘lack of equality’.”Although there were several legal provisions aimed at ensuring a level playing field, we have concluded that there was a lack of equality and opportunity,” Michael Gahler said. “Despite positive changes to the legal framework with the new elections act and a stronger and more transparent ECP, we consider that the electoral process of 2018 was negatively affected by the political environment,” he said. “Candidates with large political appeal and financial means, the so-called electables, were reported to often dominate the campaign. Uneven rules on campaign spending further undermined candidates’ equal opportunity,” he observed. Commenting on violations of the Election Act, 2017, the Mission commented that the legal requirement to nominate at least five per cent of female candidates was not met by 7.4 per cent of parties. It also mentioned that unclear provisions on sanctions against the violators of these laws, the ECP failed to take any action against the said political parties. “Women were reportedly restricted from voting in at least eight constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab upon agreements between local elders and political parties,” EU EOM observed.”Of the 3.3 million Pakistanis with disabilities, only 165,927 were registered to vote and only three disabled candidates contested the elections,” the Mission’s statement said. The Mission also mentions that although steps were taken to ensure participation of minorities in the electoral process, the situation of the Ahmadi community remains unchanged. Commenting on the requirements for candidacy with regards to knowledge of Islam and character, the Mission observed that these provisions “are subjective and were implemented in an inconsistent manner.” The head of the European Parliament’s delegation to the election observation mission, Jean Lambert MEP (UK), fully endorsed the preliminary statement of the EU EOM. “We appreciate the efforts made by the Election Commission of Pakistan to aim for greater inclusion in the electoral process, particularly through the Gender and Disabilities Working Group,” said Lambert. “We look forward to further progress. After all, the five per cent quota for women candidates is just a starting point, and more in winnable seats would be welcome.” Published in Daily Times, July 28th 2018.