ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Thursday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was making all-out efforts, including amendments to three articles of the Constitution, to ensure transparency in the upcoming Senate elections as it fully believed in a fair electoral process.
Legal experts, however, oppose the proposed amendments, saying that secret ballot is the spirit of democracy and the proposed system would further complicate the electoral system.
Addressing a press conference with PM’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, Faraz said that it was Prime Minister Imran Khan who had been stressing from the day one that his government would strive to hold the Senate election in a free and transparent manner.
He added that, unfortunately, in the past, the elections of the upper house of the parliament became controversial due to horse-trading, sale and purchase of the votes, and change of loyalties, consequently affecting the credibility and moral standing of the winners.
The PTI, he maintained, was ready to pay any price for the transparent election process, as it was the only party which had expelled its 20 provincial assembly members on the suspicion of voting against the party lines in the past.
“We removed 20 sitting MPAs from our government in KP because there was a doubt that they used their vote incorrectly and some transactions happened that were unacceptable. Only the PTI and Prime Minister Imran Khan could have removed sitting MPAs. We have not seen such an example in the past or in the present.”
The minister stressed it was an opportunity for the opposition parties to fulfil their pledge, which they had made in the Charter of Democracy. He pointed out that the charter had been signed between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 2006, and that it was “time for implementation”.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Awan announced that the PTI has prepared a “package to bring three reforms in the Constitution”. He said that the rate of buying votes had already been set as most ruling governments wanted to increase the number of seats, but the PTI was determined to ensure transparency.
“The bill will introduce three amendments,” he added, one of which would be “to Article 63-1C of the Constitution”.
“We’re using the words ‘open vote’ instead of ‘single transferable vote’,” he explained.
The government’s proposed amendments include replacing ‘single transferable vote’ in Article 59(2) of the Constitution with ‘open vote’, changing Article 63(1)(c) to allow Pakistanis with dual nationalities to contest elections, and to include the word Senate in Article 226 of the Constitution.
In case a dual national wins an election, he would have to give a clear proof before taking oath as the legislator that he had renounced his foreign citizenship, but if he loses the election, the dual national will have no need to renounce his foreign citizenship, he further explained.
Dr Awan said that the constitutional amendment bill was a “test case” for political parties and would identify their stance on holding transparent elections.
The introduction of reforms package in parliament will make it clear who in the opposition supported fair elections and wanted to stop the buying of votes and horse trading and who would be doing otherwise, he continued.
“Governments do not go as a result of bad prayers but through a no-confidence motion under a constitutional procedure,” he said. “The transparency report is another proof of the PML-N’s corruption.”
The adviser said that the premier had made it clear that, irrespective of the fact that his party would get more or less votes, he would pursue the electoral reforms in the Senate and pave the path for accountability.
Dr Awan said that a roadmap had been given to the political parties in the Parliament to stop the horse trading and buying of votes in elections.
Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto signed the Charter of Democracy in May 2006 and one of its point was that indirect elections should be open and identifiable votes should be cast in it, he observed.
The adviser said that the reforms were a national agenda and nobody would want to get Senators elected through use of money or corruption.
He urged the opposition parties to support the government in undertaking electoral reforms in the parliament.
The bill comprising the aforementioned three amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan would be presented in the parliament next week ahead of the upcoming Senate elections.
LEGAL OPINION FAVOURS SECRET BALLOT:
Commenting over the proposed amendments, veteran legal expert on constitutional matters, S M Zafar told Pakistan Today that though the matter was already in the Supreme Court (SC), the government has decided to bring up the matter in the parliament.
“And I believe that the matter should be decided in the parliament,” he said, adding that the federal government should review its decision as secret ballot is a better option.
“In my view, secret ballot is a better option against show of hands method. Senate elections are to be held under proportionate representation basis. A show of hands may create some constitutional complexities,” he maintained.
Advocate Hamid Khan told this scribe that making Senate elections transparent is a separate matter, but a single transferrable vote is to ensure the right of choice to every voter and that this amendment may complicate the matter.
“I believe that there may be malpractices in Senate elections but secret ballot is spirit of democracy and I oppose removing secret ballot from the Constitution. Political parties should bring credible people and elect better people,” he said.
When asked what measures the federal government should employ to ensure Senate elections transparent, Advocate Khan said that election may be held with open ballot and numbers should be mentioned on ballot papers.
Moreover, Advocate Kamran Farooq said that secret ballot should remain intact while the other two proposed amendments by federal government are beneficial in ensuring the administration of justice.
He said that, through these logical amendments, the word Constitution has been defined and the aforesaid amendment ensures that everyone in Pakistan, as well as overseas Pakistanis, can perform his fundamental rights freely without any hesitation.
“So, in my view the aforesaid proposed amendments shall definitely change the human thinking which had never been changed by earlier governments,” Advocate Kamran Farooq concluded.
VOTING SYSTEM:
The Senate elections are not direct elections, so ordinary citizens cannot participate in the voting process unless they are a members of a provincial or the National Assembly.
Unlike the general election, the voting system used in the Senate election is not the ‘first past the post’ system, under which whoever gets the highest number of votes is the winner.
Instead, the ‘single transferable vote’ system of proportional representation is used.
Under this system, voters cast a single ballot which mentions all the candidates they would like to see elected in order of their personal priority or preference (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on).
Each of these votes has a value. A quota calculated by the ECP determines how many votes each candidate needs to be considered elected.
The votes received by each candidate are tallied in each count. When a candidate receives enough votes to cross the quota, the extra value of his or her votes is transferred down to lower priority candidates (in the order mentioned by the voters).
The candidates who receive the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes are transferred to other candidates in the order of preference mentioned by their voters.
The process of transferring votes from successful and eliminated candidates continues until all vacant seats are filled.
The quota needed to be elected as a senator varies depending on which assembly and which seat the candidate is contesting for.
For example, for a candidate from Balochistan fighting for the general seat, the required number of votes to win a general seat is nine.
A Senate candidate from Punjab, on the other hand, will need 46 votes from the Punjab Assembly to win a general seat. This difference in the required number of votes is due to the different size of the two assemblies.
