Elections are too serious a matter to be left to the political parties alone. The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP’s) stance to rein in the candidates and parties through a stringent code of conduct has at least created a baseline for quality elections. The ECP has issued a laundry list to ensure violence- and corruption-free elections.
Anything that could influence the results of the election is taken seriously into consideration and its limits specified to avoid rigging and violence. Those in high positions who will remain in office through the elections like the speakers, deputy speakers, governors, etc, would not be allowed to participate in election campaigning. Even the caretaker prime minister and chief ministers, not to mention the president, would be barred from taking part in electioneering. The right of voters to cast their vote for their desired representatives cannot be influenced either through intimidation or bribery.
No public meeting would be allowed within 400 yards of any polling station. Any action leading to violence such as verbal abuse, aerial firing, wall chalking against opponents and instigatory remarks is prohibited. No loudspeakers will be allowed during campaigning except in public meetings. In short, every civilised democratic norm is included in the code of conduct. However, one area that has been left vague and needs definition as well as reckoning is the ideology of Pakistan touched upon by the ECP. According to the code, no one would be allowed to propagate any opinion or act in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan, a restriction enshrined in Article 63(g) of the constitution.
It would have been a great service to the nation had the ideology of Pakistan been finally defined by the ECP, since, right from the day of its inclusion in the constitution of Pakistan through the 8th Amendment, the terminology is waiting to be defined or elaborated. Unfortunately, Article 63 could not be amended while agreeing the 18th Amendment because of lack of consensus. Since its origin during General Yahya’s tenure, the concept of the ideology of Pakistan remains undefined and lacking in substance, despite having done enormous damage for its myriad hyperbolic and Islam-centric interpretations. How an unsubstantiated and undefined category can earn respect or be adhered to, calls for a logical answer. If the ECP could put us wise on this, perhaps the country would be saved from further psychological and material destruction.
Another matter that needs the ECP’s intervention is the stoppage of the dissemination of hate material done through seemingly innocuous means. This includes not only wall chalking (which has been banned by the ECP) but rickshaw advertisements that also require a complete ban on hate speech. A country right on the edge in terms of sectarian and ethnic strife, not to mention terrorism, requires caution and restraint applied on any act, verbal or written, that could destabilise the situation.
Now that the ECP is preparing to stage the elections, it is imperative that the government announce the date of the election and the caretaker setup for the exercise. The sooner this is done the better, otherwise the way conspiracy theories are being spun, things could go wrong in the run up to the country’s crucial tryst with destiny. It is time to lay to rest all the conspiracy theories, if not actual conspiracies to halt or even delay the elections. There is no other way to do this except forging agreement on a caretaker set-up and announcing the elections at the earliest possible. – DailyTimes
