The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s notification seeking returning officers from the bureaucracy for the conduct of general elections scheduled for Feb. 8, 2024 on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The petition filed by the PTI had contended that free and fair elections are not possible under returning officers provided by the interim government and sought an annulment of the ECP’s notification. During the hearing, the ECP’s counsel urged the court to reject the petition as inadmissible, noting the electoral body had first sought judicial officers, but had been refused. He also noted that the ECP was responsible for conducting fair and transparent elections.
Announcing a verdict he had earlier reserved, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi referred the case to LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, recommending a larger bench to hear the case. In his order, he observed that Sections 50(1)(b) and 51(1) of the Elections Act empowered the ECP to appoint returning officers from a list provided by the government, and assistant returning officers from either its own officers, or officers of any government or government-controlled bodies. However, it added, Article 218(3) of the Constitution required the ECP to make arrangements for polls that ensured they were “conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law.”
To grant credibility to the election process, read the order, the ECP is empowered to take preemptive measures. “On factual ground, the apparent absence of a level playing field for the political party of the petitioner [PTI] is visible to all and has also been seriously noted by many independent groups,” read the judgment, noting arrests of its top leadership and barriers to organizing campaign activities. In this regard, it stated, the petitioner’s concerns appeared “well-founded” as the party did not have confidence in the impartiality of bureaucratic officials that might be involved in these actions.
Stressing that conducting general elections costs billions of rupees, the order said this would be a waste if major political parties did not accept its results. “The intention of the Election Commission to conduct free, fair, impartial elections is yet to be transformed into reality by providing equal opportunities” to all candidates, it said, adding elections conducted in this scenario “may not give the desired results which may undermine the future of democracy in our country.”
Urging the LHC CJ to form a larger bench to hear the case, the order then suspended the ECP’s notification appointing district returning officers, returning officers, and assistant returning officers from the executive. Following the directive, the ECP halted its ongoing training of DROs, ROs, and AROs, hampering the electoral process less than two months before polls are due.
Meanwhile, the ECP has banned any posting or transfer of DROs, ROs and AROs appointed for the upcoming general polls. In a letter sent to the secretary establishment, chief secretaries of the four provinces, and chief commissioner Islamabad, the directive also bars appointed officers from taking any leave until the conclusion of the elections.