Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 19, 2020
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced two steps ahead of the forthcoming Senate elections. For unstated reasons he wants the Senate elections, that are traditionally held in March to be conducted this time a month earlier. To put an end to the malpractice of buying a seat in the Senate made possible by secret ballot, he wants elections through a show of hands. The use of money on a mega scale has not only brought a bad name to the Senate elections, but has also been widely condemned in the past by the present opposition parties. Both the proposals have however been shot down by the PDM leaders.
The opposition maintains that it is for the ECP rather than the government to announce the election schedule. By deciding to hold the Senate election in February, the government has undermined the authority of the ECP. While agreeing in principle that there is a need to put an end to the trading of votes, PML(N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has accused the PM of hypocrisy. According to her, the PM used the agencies in August last year to make a number of opposition Senators vote against the party whip, thus sabotaging the no-confidence motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Now that the PTI is unsure of the loyalties of its allies and some of its own legislators, Mr Khan has suddenly turned into a moralist.
The demand by Mr Khan for a show of hands is impracticable as underlined by the Attorney General himself. The Senate polls are cast on principle of proportionate representation where the voter elects more than one candidate. According to him, what the government has proposed is an open ballot as opposed to the current secret ballot. The government wants the name of the voter written on the back of the ballot paper to be open to scrutiny. The open ballot however clearly violates Article 226 of the Constitution which explicitly stipulates by use of the mandatory “shall” that “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, shall be by secret ballot.” The self-explanatory formulation leaves little space for the Supreme Court for interpretation. To put an end to the secret ballot in Senate elections requires constitutional amendment rather than recourse to the apex court.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/19/avoid-making-institutions-controversial/
Avoid making institutions controversial
Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 19, 2020
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced two steps ahead of the forthcoming Senate elections. For unstated reasons he wants the Senate elections, that are traditionally held in March to be conducted this time a month earlier. To put an end to the malpractice of buying a seat in the Senate made possible by secret ballot, he wants elections through a show of hands. The use of money on a mega scale has not only brought a bad name to the Senate elections, but has also been widely condemned in the past by the present opposition parties. Both the proposals have however been shot down by the PDM leaders.
The opposition maintains that it is for the ECP rather than the government to announce the election schedule. By deciding to hold the Senate election in February, the government has undermined the authority of the ECP. While agreeing in principle that there is a need to put an end to the trading of votes, PML(N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has accused the PM of hypocrisy. According to her, the PM used the agencies in August last year to make a number of opposition Senators vote against the party whip, thus sabotaging the no-confidence motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Now that the PTI is unsure of the loyalties of its allies and some of its own legislators, Mr Khan has suddenly turned into a moralist.
The demand by Mr Khan for a show of hands is impracticable as underlined by the Attorney General himself. The Senate polls are cast on principle of proportionate representation where the voter elects more than one candidate. According to him, what the government has proposed is an open ballot as opposed to the current secret ballot. The government wants the name of the voter written on the back of the ballot paper to be open to scrutiny. The open ballot however clearly violates Article 226 of the Constitution which explicitly stipulates by use of the mandatory “shall” that “All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, shall be by secret ballot.” The self-explanatory formulation leaves little space for the Supreme Court for interpretation. To put an end to the secret ballot in Senate elections requires constitutional amendment rather than recourse to the apex court.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/19/avoid-making-institutions-controversial/
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan