Sir, your appointment as CEC was a decision taken by consensus of major parties. This was a unique distinction. They reposed full confidence and trust in you as you were a man of impeccable integrity and character. However, looking at the canvas of the recent general elections, the acting CEC Justice Tasaddaq Jilani is reported to have said that 90 percent of the elections were fair and 10 percent were not fair. No doubt, you and your colleagues need to be congratulated on holding, by and large, free and fair elections. However, the cases of irregularities ought to be looked into. Here I thought I would like to probe a specific case of alleged malpractices and rigging. Many such cases falling in this category have been reported in the media, including a case with substantial documentary evidence and a video of the alleged rigging being done by the returning officer in NA 156. The illegal act of the returning officer, appointed by you under (section 7 chapter III) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1976, requires your personal attention. This alleged rigging was revealed at a press conference held in Multan on May 12, the next day, by Syed Fakhar Imam, candidate for the constituency (NA 156 Khanewal), and was highlighted in the national media. I was amazed at the nature of the revelations by the candidate who enjoys a high reputation as a public figure. What perplexed me, in particular was the fact that a returning officer, who is charged with upholding the task of conducting free, fair, transparent and impartial elections, was alleged to have become a party in asking some of the presiding officers to tamper with the results by de-sealing the polling bags. The case calls for an inquiry by your office to determine the truth. This case study might discover a pattern of unfair and illegal practices that might have taken place in certain other constituencies. Your appointment as the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan had raised expectations of the people on account of your unblemished public record. In the past, most of our elections were influenced in varying degrees by the sitting governments. The people had grown used to seeing the outcome of desired results through rigging before, during and after the polls. Hence the results did not reflect the peoples’ mandate and the Assemblies were not fully legitimate. For the reasons stated above most Assemblies did not complete their full term. After the previous Assembly had completed its full term, it was expected that free, fair and impartial elections would be held by the newly constituted Election Commission of Pakistan headed by you.The charge of unfair means in approximately 10 percent of constituencies should be examined. Hopefully, these complaints will be redressed by the election tribunals expeditiously within the stipulated period of 120 days. This is necessary as many petitions that were filed in 2008 have not been decided to-date. In a few cases judgments had been reserved but even after the lapse of over five years, the election tribunals have failed to announce them. In civilized and democratic countries it would be difficult to find such gross violation of basic fundamental rights of the people and democratic values. I am writing this letter with the hope that you will take stock of the situation by carrying out an in-depth assessment of the entire election process. You and you colleagues can identify the impediments and irritants the election commission faced in conducting the election. Carrying out this exercise would help rectify the irregularities and illegalities occurring in the 10 percent of the constituencies. With profound regards and with best wishes and holding you in the highest esteem.
nThe writer is President of the Pakistan National Forum.