The Public Voice Poll is urging political parties to promptly initiate a comprehensive dialogue addressing shortcomings in the existing legal framework for elections in the country.
Emphasizing the critical need for political parties to set aside differences in the interest of upholding democracy, Public Voice Poll asserts that the integrity of the nation’s democracy, ensured through free, fair, and transparent elections, is at stake. With just seven months remaining in the current National Assembly’s tenure, Public Voice Poll sees it as an opportune moment for political parties to institute necessary changes to the electoral framework, guaranteeing elections that are free, fair, transparent, and inclusive.
Electoral Reforms: Advocacy for Multi-Party Committee To ensure stability in the upcoming general elections, Public Voice Poll proposes the establishment of a cross-chamber multi-party parliamentary committee, akin to the successful 2014 Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER). This committee, composed of representatives from the Senate and the National Assembly, achieved consensus on electoral reforms, leading to the enactment of a unified election law in 2017. While the Elections Act, 2017 introduced reforms, critical systemic issues such as improving representativeness, reducing the influence of money in politics, and incorporating technology in elections were left unaddressed.
Pakistan’s election system faces emerging challenges, including the growing role of social media in facilitating third-party financing of political campaigns in violation of the law. Parties must also decide on the mechanism for enabling overseas Pakistanis to vote and address issues related to the scrutiny of election results for integrity and reduced post-election disputes.
Electoral Reforms: Fulfilling Commitments Taking tangible measures for electoral reforms aligns with commitments made by the leaders of the incumbent coalition government in the Supreme Court. Despite commitments made on April 7, 2022, to introduce electoral reforms ahead of the General Elections, the government has yet to present a substantive reform package in Parliament, except for legislation restoring original provisions of the Elections Act, 2017.
Public Voice Poll believes that a political dialogue will alleviate tensions and ensure the conduct of peaceful elections. With constitutional elections due by October 11, 2023, unless an alternative understanding is reached, Public Voice Poll urges political parties to agree on a minimum, common agenda for reforms. This agenda includes crucial areas such as:
Effective Checks on Political Finance: Strengthening provisions of the Elections Act, 2017 concerning the use of money in elections, with emphasis on clear definitions of election expenses, consideration of third-party financing, mandatory scrutiny of candidates’ expenses, punitive consequences for falsification, limits on party financing, and regulation of online campaign expenses.
Election-specific Regulation of Social Media: Introducing a legal framework for regulating online political campaigning, advertising, fund-raising, and third-party financing, addressing challenges posed by fake news, hate speech, disinformation, and misrepresentations on social media.
Enhanced Scrutiny of Result Management: Providing greater control to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in managing election results, ensuring methodical scrutiny of constituency-specific documents before final candidate notifications to minimize post-election disputes.
Facilitating Overseas Voting: Developing a comprehensive legal and procedural framework for overseas voting, considering reliable technological solutions, and extending the right to postal ballots for overseas Pakistani voters.
Representativeness of Reserved Seats for Women: Addressing the geographical imbalance in the distribution of reserved seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies by adopting provincial quotas and ensuring broader representation.