Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmad on Thursday said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were going against the Charter of Democracy by opposing open balloting in Senate elections.
Sindh Advocate General (AG) Salman Talibuddin argued before the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday that the presidential reference must be dismissed as it is not maintainable and that secrecy in the polls is absolute in view of the Article 226 of the Constitution.
He said that accepting the reference would be akin to a constitutional amendment, adding that allegations of corruption in the Senate elections are hearsay as there is no evidence.
“We can not say whether open balloting will eliminate horse-trading but it is disappointing that the PPP and the PML-N have gone back on their earlier agreement,” responded CJP Gulzar, expressing his disappointment over the PPP and the PML-N going against the Charter of Democracy, which calls for an end to secret balloting in Senate elections.
To this, Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the best evidence of corruption is a traceable ballot of a voter and as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) cannot currently access the paper ballot, then Article 225 of the Constitution stands redundant.
“If prima facie, there is [a] material of corruption, then a tribunal can order the examining of the ballot,” he maintained.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan said on the occasion that “you can not shut [the] door to the opening of ballots.”
In his arguments, Punjab AG Ahmad Awais agreed with Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan’s perspective that parliamentarians were bound by their party’s code of discipline and in case of any violation, action can be taken against them.
He said, in response to a question, that a lawmaker can be held liable for selling or buying votes, but not for voting his party’s interests.
The advocate generals of Islamabad, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab all supported the arguments presented by the AGP.
Justice Gulzar said that Article 63-A does not apply to the Senate elections whereas Article 59 does not mention secret balloting.
The hearing was postponed till Friday.
A day earlier, during the hearing, Justice Ahsan had inquired how ECP would maintain proportional representation and if the votes could ever truly be secret.
Referring to electronic voting, he had pointed out that anything on the Internet could be traced. Regarding proportionate representation, he had said that the ECP itself would be responsible if the party “does not get [a number of seats] in relation to its seats in the provincial assemblies”.
The ECP in a response submitted to the SC on Wednesday had maintained that the Senate elections should always be held through a secret ballot. The ECP’s counsel, citing Article 226 of the Constitution, had said that votes for the Senate elections would “always remain secret” and the votes that were cast could “not be shown to anyone”.
The chief justice, on the occasion, had asked what steps the ECP would take to rectify a lack of proportional representation if it comes to pass, and if the election results should then be declared illegal.
“Vote-selling will result in tatters of proportional representation,” Justice Ahsan had remarked. “If any party gets seats [not in accordance] with its representation, the system will be destroyed,” he had added.
Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said the government was fully striving to ensure that the senators were elected on the basis of competency, capability and merit through a transparent electoral process.
The prime minister said this during a meeting with Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shehzad Waseem, who called on him in the federal capital, wherein political matters and Senate elections were discussed in the meeting.
Similarly, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said on Thursday that open balloting is the only way for transparent senate elections.
Talking to media outside Election Commission’s Peshawar office, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is upholding the narrative of transparent elections while the opposition parties are stepping back from the same.
It is pertinent here to mention the ECP on Thursday decided to take affidavits from the candidates to ensure transparency in the Senate elections.
The commission will take a pledge from the contesting candidates not to take bribe over party tickets. ECP will be informed if anyone approaches any nominee for horse-trading.
The candidates have to submit a written assurance, mentioning that they will not carry out any corrupt practice, violation of the constitution or law and avoid taking or giving bribe during the polls in the upper house of the parliament.
On the other hand, ECP has continued scrutiny of the nomination papers of candidates for Senate elections.
A total of 170 candidates had filed their nomination papers in the ECP for the elections on 48 seats in the upper house of the Parliament. 29 candidates from Punjab, 39 from Sindh, 51 from KP, 41 from Balochistan and 10 from the federal capital Islamabad had submitted their details.
As per schedule, the candidates can file appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers on February 20 and the last date for disposing of these appeals is February 23.
The revised list of candidates will be published on February 24. The candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on February 25.
Polling on 48 seats will be held on the 3rd of next month at the Parliament House in Islamabad and the four provincial assemblies.
With additional input from APP and PPI
