CEC stresses comprehensive preparations for 2023 polls

ISLAMABAD: Separate debriefing sessions on the recent by-elections in NA-75 Sialkot-IV and NA-249 Karachi West-II were held Tuesday and Wednesday here to cover the weaknesses and shortcomings so that these were not be repeated in future.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, who chaired the events, emphasised that in view of the shortcomings that have arisen in the country, preparations should be made for the general elections of 2023 and work should be done on the guidelines, rules and regulations where amendments were required.

The sessions were held here at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretariat in which the members of the ECP and the ECP secretary also participated.

The CEC) said at the beginning that the purpose of these debriefings was to cover the weaknesses and shortcomings so that they could be rectified in future. De-briefing sessions were attended by District Returning Officers (DROs), District Monitoring Officers (DMOs) and Returning Officers (ROs) of both the constituencies.

Regarding NA-75 Sialkot-IV, the RO, referring to the re-polling held on 19th February, 2021 and 10 April 2021, said that on 19th February 2021, law and order problems were observed at 36 out of 76 polling stations in Daska city and this also affected voter turnout at other polling stations in the constituency.

In the re-polling held on April 10, 2021, the polling process was better due to better coordination between the ECP, local administration, police and security agencies. The RO said that during the re-polling on April 10, 2021, a Joint Command and Control Center was set up in the office of the RO which played an important role in effectively coordinating between the agencies and monitoring the election process. Appreciating the role of ECP staff, polling staff, local administration and security agencies in the process of re-polling on April 10, 2021, the CEC said that the proactive role of the ECP could further improve the electoral process.

He directed that in the forthcoming election guidelines it should be made clear that before issuing an election scheme in any constituency, the RO must visit all the polling stations along with the concerned Deputy Commissioner, District Police Officers.

Regarding the by-election in NA-249 Karachi West-II, the concerned DRO informed the meeting that the polling process in the constituency was peaceful but due to high number of candidates and single entry system of result management system, delayed in announcement of results.

The CEC said that the process of announcing the results could have been improved and it would have been better if a screen had been installed outside the office of the Returning Officer on which the progressive results would have been announced.

Regarding the debriefing sessions, the CEC stressed on the need to further improve the training process of the ECP staff and election staff and directed that a strategy be prepared in this regard and the election process during these by-elections.

In relation to the next general election, he said the installation of screens outside the offices of the concerned ROs should be made mandatory for the candidates, polling agents and the media on which the progressive results would be announced from time to time.