December 20, 2023
Staff report
ISLAMABAD
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), issued a clarification of their earlier statement against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), declaring that neither does it demand that the CEC resign and neither does it call for the delimitation of constituencies.
A day prior, Pakistan’s top lawyers’ bodies, the PBC and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) issued separate press releases that fair and transparent elections cannot be held under the supervision of the incumbent CEC.
In an interview for the Aaj News program Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir, PBC Vice-Chair Haroon-ur-Rashid held that the Council’s objections to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) were regarding electoral constituencies and that it did not call for the resignation of the CEC.
“Our objections are limited to the Election Commission, where they did not allocate seats as per requirement. Prior to this, we issued our concerns [regarding this issue],” he held. “Let me clarify: nowhere in the press release have we called for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.”
Rashid further explained that the incorrect allocation of seats occurred in lieu of the incumbent CEC’s supervision, and that if he has indeed made this mistake then he must ensure transparent elections.
According to media reports, SCBA President Shehzad Shaukat, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for Umrah, contacted the CEC and clarified that the SCBA’s earlier statement was issued without his notice or approval.
When contacted by Voicepk.net, Shaukat said he will issue a full explanation after his return to Pakistan on December 21. Reliable sources claim that the SCBA President has already distanced himself from the original press release.
SCBA Secretary Ali Imran on the other hand claimed that it was he who issued said press release, and that if Shaukat disagrees, he can provide his own explanation.
“The whole country is asking for one thing only: free, fair and transparent elections. When [Shaukat] comes back to Pakistan, then we will talk about this. Right now he’s out of the country. Only he can provide an explanation,” he said.
The PBC press statement alleged that the CEC had created two constituencies for the National Assembly in his native Jhelum, while allocating only one seat to Hafizabad district, which has roughly the same population.
In this regard, the former SCBA President Abid Zuberi provided that Hafizabad was brought up as senior lawyer and former SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon, a Hafizabad native, objected to this delimitation.
“I have heard, but Bhoon can better explain this, his case regarding delimitations was dismissed. Ahsan Bhoon is from Hafizabad as well,” he posited. “If you look at paragraph two [of the PBC’s press release], free and fair elections cannot be held under the incumbent Chief Election Commissioner, and a glaring example of this is that Hafizabad was allocated one seat while the Chief Election Commissioners own area, Jhelum, was given two seats.”
Bhoon however rejected these allegations.
“There are many other districts besides Hafizabad, it was mentioned as an example,” he explained.
Zubairi also mentioned that the fact that the CEC did not hold elections as per schedule in 2022, and sidelined a major political party are also grounds for scrutiny as to his ability to ensure transparency in the general elections.
Legal and political circles say that the objections raised by Pakistan’s apex lawyers’ organizations are valid, but they were raised at the wrong time. This is so because if the CEC resigns now, the general elections will once again be needlessly delayed.