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07-04-2017, 03:34 PM
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ECP fears messy 2018 polls
 ISLAMABAD: Delays on the part of the government and opposition parties in the approval and implementation of much-awaited electoral reforms are really endangering the 2018 election which may end up in a serious voting mess, leading to political chaos.Senior Election Commission of Pakistan sources told The News that if “obstacle” in the reformation of election system are **t ******* early, then timely free, fair and qualitative elections would **t be possible. The situation, it is said, is extremely frustrating for the Election Commission of Pakistan, which is anxiously waiting for legal means to timely carry out the required initiatives. “It’s a pity that even after holding more than 100 Parliamentary Committee/ Sub Committee meetings, reforms in electoral laws is still a chimera,” a ECP source lamented, adding that millions of rupees have been spent in the name of electoral reforms but **thing concrete is yet coming out. It is explained that elections are the biggest activity in peace time but the ECP is **t getting timely assistance from relevant government authorities and parliament in terms of passing new laws and updating data.“**w it can easily be derived that qualitative elections are totally dependent on timely completion of legal and administrative actions by government and parliament,” the source warned. He explained that as per **tification dated 25th July, 2014 of the National Assembly, the Special Committee of the Parliament on Electoral Reforms was formed comprising 33 members from the National Assembly and Senate with ToR to accomplish the task of Electoral Reforms within 3 (three) months. The committee was asked to submit its report to parliament but despite the lapse of almost three years, the law regarding electoral reforms has **t yet been enacted.The commission sources informed that the ECP procured 100 Biometric Verification Machines (BVMs) on 14th June, 2017 for testing it in pilot project. The ECP, it is said, is **w technically fully prepared to conduct its pilot testing in any upcoming by-elections as per plan. All SOPs have also been made along with its training manuals but due to unavailability of Nadra’s biometric data of voters, this project can**t be operationalized.“Despite, three reminders to Nadra, ** action has been taken by them as yet,” a source said, adding that the ECP had also sent letters to the Secretary Interior Division and National Assembly about this delay by the Nadra but it was getting ** response from any corner. The source added that the ECP had asked the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to provide the census data with its final **tification as per the Constitution of Pakistan. However, the PBS declined to provide such final data on or before April, 2018. “It is vital to **te that the ECP will take at least seven to eight months for its delimitations before the elections and if this data is **t shared with ECP this year, then elections on time using new census data would **t be possible,” the source said. He added that the draft Election Act 2017 recommends new tech**logies like CCTV cameras, Result Transmission Systems (RTS) using mobiles for Presiding ******rs, Result Management System (RMS) for result compilation for Returning ******rs, availability of all results forms on website within 30 days from the poll day, etc. The source explained that all these initiatives require timely legislation and availability of funds. If there are any further delays, such initiatives can**t be introduced for 2018 elections. The ECP, it is explained, has also contacted all the provincial chief ministers asking them to upgrade the conditions of schools to ensure basic necessities like water, electricity, wash rooms, etc. but still waiting for response from the provincial governments. It is said that the ECP contacted NADRA and all national and regional political parties to assist the ECP for minimizing the gap of voters’ registration between male and female, which is about 12 million. However, in this case too ** response has been received as yet except one political party. The sources said the ECP had developed new training manuals (based on both the existing laws and draft laws) for training of DROs/ROs/Presiding ******rs/Polling Staff. However, the ECP is unsure about the finalization of new electoral laws and rules and regulations. أكثر... 
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