Mid-August to see new prime minister

ISLAMABAD: The next prime minister will be in place around mid-August after the fulfillment of mandatory procedural requirements by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the wake of the parliamentary polls on July 25.

Owing to the essential technical prerequisites that will have to be met preceding the transfer of power to the elected premier from the caretaker setup, the sixty-day tenure of the interim arrangement may thus cross its term by a fortnight. As per the Constitution, the caretakers are bound to hold the elections within sixty days.

Under the Elections Act, the ECP will need at least two weeks to complete the obligatory conditions after the polls, enabling the national and provincial assemblies to take oath.

The swearing in of the new prime minister and the legislatures some three weeks after the polling day this time will not be something unusual. In 2013, the polls were held on May 11 that year; the National Assembly had taken oath on June 1 and four days later Nawaz Sharif was administered oath as the premier. In 2008, polling took place on February 18 whereas Yusuf Raza Gilani became the premier on March 25. In 2002, the elections were held on October 10. Mir Zafarullah Jamali had taken oath as the prime minister on November 24.

It will be instructive to have a look at the binding procedural trajectory that the ECP will have to adopt before giving a green signal to the administration of oath to the new MPs to be followed by the election of the speaker as well as the prime minister.

Under section 98 of the Elections Act, on receipt of the Final Consolidated Result (FCR) from the Returning Officer (RO), the ECP will, within fourteen days from the date of the polls, publish in the official gazette the name of the contesting candidate who has received the highest number of votes and stands elected. The ECP will also publish the name of each contesting candidate and the total number of votes received by him as in the FCR. Every returned candidate will, within ten days from the polls, submit a return of election expenses and the ECP will not notify the result of a returned candidate who fails to submit this return. The ECP will place these documents on its website within two days from the date of the publication of the name of the returned candidate in the gazette.

Before that, under section 92, on receipt of the results of the count from all Presiding Officers (POs) of a constituency, the RO will forthwith prepare and announce provisional FCRs of the count of the constituency (excluding postal ballots) in the presence of such contesting candidates, their election agents or authorised observers as may be present, affix a copy of the provisional consolidated statement of results signed by him at a conspicuous place in his office and send a copy to the ECP.

According to section 95, immediately after announcement of provisional results, the RO will give the contesting candidates and their election agents a notice in writing of the day, time and place fixed for the consolidation of the results, and, in the presence of such of the contesting candidates and election agents as may be present, consolidate in the prescribed manner the results of the count furnished by the POs, including therein the postal ballots received by him before the time fixed for the consolidation of results.

Before consolidating the results of the count, the RO will examine the ballot papers excluded from the count by the PO and, if he finds that any such ballot paper should not have been so excluded, count it as a ballot paper cast in favour of the contesting candidate for whom the vote has been cast. The RO will also count the ballot papers received by him by post and include the votes cast in favour of each contesting candidate in the consolidated statement except those which he may reject on any of the grounds mentioned in the law. The ballot papers rejected by the RO will be mentioned separately in the consolidated statement.

Before commencement of the consolidation proceedings, the RO will recount the ballot papers of one or more polling stations if a request or challenge in writing is made by a contesting candidate or his election agent and the margin of victory is less than five percent of the total votes polled in the constituency or 10,000 votes, whichever is less, or the RO considers such request as not unreasonable. However, the recount will be made by the RO only once.

The ECP may, before conclusion of the consolidation proceedings, direct the RO to recount the ballot papers of one or more polling stations. If there is a difference between the results of the count received from the POs and the results of the recount, the RO will record the difference and details thereof. However, where the RO has recounted the votes, the consolidation proceedings will be completed within five days after the polling day. The RO will, within twenty four hours after the consolidation proceedings, send to the ECP signed copies of the consolidated statement of the results of the count and FCR together with results of the count and the Ballot Paper Account, as received from the POs, and will retain copies of these documents for record.

After consolidation of results, the RO will give to such contesting candidates and their election agents as are present during the consolidation proceedings a copy of the consolidated statement of the results of the count and the FCR sent to the ECP against proper receipt. On receipt of these documents, the ECP will, within fourteen days from the date of the poll, publish on its website.