Voters in twenty-six districts of Punjab and Sindh provinces went to the polls to elect their local government representatives in an election characterized by...
Voters turned out in considerable numbers to vote for their local representatives during the first phase of election that was held in eight districts of Sindh on Saturday, October 31, 2015. Although relatively better organized, the local government elections were not free from procedural irregularities and tainted by the afternoon clash in Khairpur district that led to the killing of as many as 11 political workers. In addition, the incidents of restrictions on FAFEN observers for the observation of the voting process as well as counting of votes raised questions about the transparency of the process.
An impressive number of people turned out to vote in the first phase of the Local Government Election in Punjab held in 12 districts. While relatively peaceful, the elections were marked by procedural irregularities and illegalities that continue to highlight weak grip of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the enforcement of electoral processes. One of the most pronounced irregularities on the Election Day was the barrier on FAFEN's observation of both voting and the counting processes at the polling stations despite issuance of accreditation by the ECP.
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were not adjudicated on, 49 petitions have been accepted, 25 dismissed due to non-prosecution, 31 dismissed as withdrawn and 123 dismissed after complete trial.
The election to the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on June 8, 2015 witnessed an impressive turnout of voters in a peaceful and well-managed polling process. However, the vote counting and result consolidation processes were not accessible to independent observers, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its preliminary observation report on Wednesday. Despite an efficient accreditation process by the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan (ECGB), the principles of electoral transparency appeared not to have been shared with the government and security officials, who obstructed FAFEN’s observers – particularly of the results consolidation process.
Peshawar, May 31, 2015: An impressive number of voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa turned out to elect their local council representatives on Saturday in the largest-ever electoral exercise in the province, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). Although the campaign period remained peaceful to a large extent, Election Day was marked by administrative mismanagement, extremely slow processing of voters, procedural irregularities and several reports of violence and bar on women voters. Polling was held in 3,339 neighborhood and village councils of 978 wards in 24 districts of the province, with the exception of Kohistan where the elections were stayed by the Peshawar High Court.
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.
