ISLAMABAD, December 24, 2015: An impressive voter turnout of nearly 60 percent, restriction on independent observation and an over-zealous security arbitrarily interpreting election laws characterized a relatively better administered and hotly-contested by-election for NA-154 in Lodhran that preceded a campaign with excessive use of public and private money, say preliminary observation findings by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
ISLAMABAD, June 18, 2015: Eight more cases were decided by the election tribunals constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in May 2015 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 385 (359 decided by the tribunals and 26 disposed by ECP) out of 411, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Thursday. Of the 385 cases, 155 (129 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies, implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on, 49 petitions have been accepted, 25 dismissed due to non-prosecution, 31 dismissed as withdrawn and 123 dismissed after complete trial.
Only five cases were decided by the election tribunals constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in April 2015 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 378 out of 411. Of the 378 cases, 154 have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies, implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Forty-six petitions have been accepted; 25 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 31 dismissed as withdrawn and 120 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of two petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders.
The election tribunals constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan decided six cases in March 2015 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 373 out of 411. As many as 38 petitions are still awaiting decisions. Of the 373 cases, 154 have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies – implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Forty-five petitions have been accepted; 25 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 30 dismissed as withdrawn and 117 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of two petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders.
The election tribunals constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan decided three cases in February 2015 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 367 out of 411. As many as 44 petitions are still awaiting decisions. Of the 367 cases, 154 have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies – implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Forty-four petitions have been accepted; 25 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 30 dismissed as withdrawn and 112 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of two petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders.
Only six cases were decided by the election tribunals in January 2015 bringing the total number of decided cases to 364 out of 411 (338 out of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself). On the other hand, 47 petitions are still awaiting decisions. The ECP constituted 14 tribunals across the country to redress election-related complaints following the 2013 General Elections. The three tribunals in Balochistan decided all the petitions to become the first and only province whose tribunals have finished their tasks.
Only four cases were decided by the election tribunals in December 2014 whereas a petition decided earlier has been remanded back by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. So far 358 out of 411 post-election disputes (332 out of 385 by tribunals and 26 by ECP) have been decided, while another 53 are still pending with the tribunals.
Free and Fair Election Network's (FAFEN's) election observation was divided in three logical phases; pre-election, Election Day and post-election. This report is based on post-election observation conducted by FAFEN observers in 124 districts across the country. Lehri and Sohbatpur in Balochistan and Korangi in Sindh were not treated as separate districts in this report as they were granted the status of district after 2013 General Elections while National Assembly constituencies in Muzaffargarh, Kohlu and Khyber Agency were not observed.
Only seven cases were decided by the election tribunals in November 2014 - bringing the total number of decided cases to 355 out of 4111(329 out of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself). On the other hand, 56 petitions are still awaiting decisions. Of the 355 cases, 154 (128 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies, implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Thirty-nine petitions have been accepted; 23 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 29 dismissed as withdrawn and 95 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of 15 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders despite continuous efforts to obtain them.
The election tribunals decided six cases in October 2014 bringing the total number of decided cases to 348 out of 411 (322 of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) while 63 petitions are pending. Of the decided 348 cases, 153 (127 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Thirty-eight (38) petitions have been accepted, 23 dismissed due to non-prosecution, 29 dismissed as withdrawn and 89 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of 16 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to unavailability of copies of orders despite continuous efforts to obtain them.
