Reforming the ECP

After a year of questions asked about precisely what role the Election Commission of Pakistan is to perform, one question remains: how serious is the ECP about reforming itself? A report in this newspaper confirms that there are 82 vacant positions in the ECP that have not yet been filled – and it has been a year now that they are lying vacant. Last May, the ECP advertised 82 positions. Since the ECP is now a permanent body and under huge pressure to reform, it needs a consistent workforce to be able to undertake the needful. The currently vacant posts include the director general training, deputy director protocol and assistant director protocol. Apart from these a number of key posts remain vacant, including that of director general elections and additional director general elections. With local bodies election still going on and new controversies emerging consistently, the fact that such a large number of positions in the ECP remain vacant suggests that efforts to reform the commission may just be in vain. It already took months for the ECP to appoint a full-time secretary. ECP officials have claimed that the process was always likely to take time, but the appointments will certainly need time to gel in with the September local bodies election in Sindh and Punjab just around the corner.
Electoral reform is not possible until the ECP is a permanent, functioning and reformed body. ECP officials on Sunday claimed that the reforms pinpointed by the Judicial Commission report on the 2013 general elections would remove 90 percent of the issues encountered in the election. The ECP was attempting to respond to PTI chairman Imran Khan’s 40-point letter to the ECP. The commission seems to be too optimistic about itself given the circumstances and the severe critique it faced in the Judicial Commission report. Part of the solution lies with parliament, but the implementation mechanisms will need to be created within the ECP. The ECP has been given constitutional autonomy and the ability to employ full-time staff. Its failures are its own. The blame cannot be placed on parliament or the government. If anything, the JC report has reinforced the need for serious electoral reform in the country. At least nine major flaws were identified by the JC in the planning and execution of the May 2013 elections by the ECP. The ECP is tasked with just one thing: ensuring the smooth conduct of polls. Despite five years at hand, it was unable to ensure a transparent process. The unfilled posts in the ECP are just the tip of the iceberg of the lack of seriousness within the organisation.