Election Commission of Pakistan is a Fraud, a Scam and a Hoax
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Feb 17, 2008, 10:28:05 AM2/17/08
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- INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - USA
- Chief Editor: Journalist SYED ADEEB
- http://www.InformPress.com
==================================================
Pakistan Election Commission Not Impartial
Electoral Machinery Controlled by Musharraf Appointees
- http://www.dhandli.com.pk
- http://www.pmln.org.pk/news_detail.php?id=988
- http://www.khosas.com
New York, NY, USA, 12 February 2008 (InformPress.com) - The failure
of
Pakistan's Election Commission to act on allegations of
irregularities
means the electoral machinery for national elections due on February
18, 2008 cannot be considered impartial, Human Rights Watch [HRW]
said
today. The structure of the Commission, which has wide powers to
investigate complaints and take action, also suggests it will not
rule
fairly in the election.
Since the official election period commenced in November 2007, the
Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] has ignored allegations of
widespread irregularities, including arrests and harassment of
opposition candidates and party members, and the misuse of state
resources, administration and state machinery to the advantage of
candidates backed by [Outlaw Tyrant] Pervez Musharraf.
"There have been numerous complaints of improper government
assistance
to the ruling [PML-Q] party and illegal interference with opposition
activities," said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.
"But the election commission has done nothing significant to address
these problems, raising serious questions about its impartiality."
Human Rights Watch said that the Election Commission has taken
virtually no action on the widespread harassment of opposition
candidates through the registration of police cases against them,
police obstruction of opposition rallies, and the removal of lawful
opposition banners and billboards.
Human Rights Watch has documented the involvement of the local
administration in helping Musharraf-backed candidates, particularly
in
Punjab and Sindh provinces. For example:
-- In Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, the police have
illegally put up banners and posters for the Musharraf-backed
Pakistan
Muslim League (PML-Q) and torn down the electoral symbols of the
opposition.
-- On December 10, 2007, a television cameraman in Gahno Khose, Sindh
province, who filmed police providing illegal assistance to the
district mayor, deputy mayor, town police officer, executive district
officer and caretaker ministers during an electoral campaign told
Human Rights Watch that the mayor's men snatched his camera and
warned
him against broadcasting the report. Police then threatened to lodge
criminal cases against him. "I was afraid and informed my
organization. They told me to keep quiet and took on the
responsibility of talking to the concerned people," he said. "They
didn't lodge [a criminal case] against me, but I am receiving further
threats."
-- On December 26, 2007, police in Gujrat city, Punjab, prevented
opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidates from preparing
for a reception for their leader [Muhammad] Nawaz Sharif, citing oral
"orders from above." Municipal administration staff overnight removed
PML-N banners around the city. Police prevented the PML-N's Gujrat
youth wing from announcing Sharif's arrival, confiscated their
loudspeakers and detained six activists for several hours. Chaudhry
Mohammad Faraz, the PML-N General Secretary in Gujrat, told Human
Rights Watch: "Police blocked all roads leading to the venue to stop
people from welcoming Nawaz Sharif, from Jalalpur Jattan, Fatehpur,
Shadiwal, Kunja and Bhimber. People had to come on foot, one by
one."
-- On the night of December 20, 2007, unknown persons fired upon the
PML-N office set up in the residence of Muhammad Afzal at Mohallah
Kaloo Pura, Gujrat, after an anonymous telephone call telling Afzal
to
close the office down. Police did not collect evidence or register a
complaint.
-- In Thatta district, Sindh province, police have been obstructing
the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) by not giving security
clearance to its candidates to hold public meetings. The PPP's Sassui
Palijo, the only directly elected opposition party member in Thatta
district, told Human Rights Watch that the administration has been
interfering in their campaigns since the previous local bodies'
elections. "Now they are doing it again. They remove flags, banners
after our party workers put them up. ... We tell the election
commission
everything and show them evidence every three days. But they have
done
nothing to help us at all so far." Palijo said that a PPP worker,
Nawaz Ali Shah Qudusani, had to "go underground" after he went ahead
with a rally that the local mayor had warned him against holding;
police raided his house and arrested three people.
In its update of February 9, [2008], the Fair and Free Election
Network (FAFEN), an independent coalition of non-governmental
organizations [NGOs] with observers in more than 260 districts around
the country, said that one of the most frequent complaints they have
received is of "police harassing candidates and/or workers of certain
political parties by threatening that they will register cases
against
them. In addition, police are asking supporters and candidates of
political parties who formed the opposition during the previous
government to stop campaigning. In some cases, FAFEN observers
reported that police had directly asked candidates and local
government representatives to announce their support to the
[Musharraf-
backed] PML-Q." Observers from FAFEN have gathered reports of
intimidation and harassment by the police or other security agency
districts in all provinces.
Extensive government transfers and postings of judges and other
officials across the country violate legal provisions banning
postings
and transfers after the announcement of the election schedule, which
took place on November 20, 2007. The Election Commission has failed
to
stop or reverse transfers of district judges; the government has put
in place judges who independent observers fear could compromise
investigations into electoral malpractice. The government appointed
59
civil judges in early January [2008] across the North West Frontier
Province. Eleven civil judges were transferred. As well as
investigating complaints, district judges are also responsible for
aggregating the vote count on polling day.
In addition, Human Rights Watch has records of at least 90 transfers
of officials in Sindh province. After the announcement of the
election
schedule, several police officers were transferred across Sindh. Some
were posted as Station House Officers (SHOs) to police stations of
Kharipur district in Sindh. When the Assistant Election Commissioner
(AEC) in Jacobabad, Sindh, Liaquat Ali Afridi, refused to change
polling procedures or reduce the number of polling stations from 259
to 226, he was transferred and replaced with Hisaam Soomro, a
relative
of the caretaker Prime Minister [Mohammadmian Soomro] in Sindh.
Candidates have sent in more than 1,500 complaints of irregularities
from around the country, few of which have been investigated. Even
visible violations, like the use of electoral banners on government
offices, have been ignored. The Secretary of the Election Commission
of Pakistan, Kunwar Dilshad, denied responsibility, telling Human
Rights Watch that the Commission, which is dependent on the district-
level judiciary to investigate these complaints, is helpless to
investigate or act if judges send no evidence.
The Election Commission's lack of independence and impartiality is
among the crucial structural issues impeding free and fair elections.
The [illegal] president currently appoints the Chief Election
Commissioner [CEC] and the other commission members. The election law
requires members of the Election Commission, an ad hoc body, to be
High Court judges; their part-time status in the Election Commission
compromises their effectiveness. Two were appointed after Musharraf
imposed a state of Emergency on November 3, [2007], calling into
question their impartiality. For example, Justice Ghulam Dastagir
Shahani, a lawyer with no judicial experience, was appointed to the
Sindh High Court on December 14 [2007] and to the Election Commission
on January 5, [2008], by Musharraf, although more experienced judges
were available. The current Chief Election Commissioner, Qazi
Muhammad
Farooq, a retired Supreme Court judge, called his impartiality into
question when he amended the rules of the presidential polls of
October 2007 to allow Musharraf to contest the election while still
Army Chief, in violation of a clear constitutional prohibition.
The Election Commission has ignored recommendations made by
international observers, including the European Union, such as
changing the method of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner
and other members to ensure their impartiality. A key recommendation
from international election monitors in past elections relates to the
vote count aggregation and delays in announcement between results at
polling stations and the final result. Problems identified in the
past
have included the provision of results at polling stations on
unofficial papers. Transparency would be greatly improved if
certified
copies of each polling station result (compiled on form XVI) and
aggregated results (compiled on form XVII) were made immediately
available to the media, candidates, polling agents and observers.
Under Pakistani law, the President cannot hold a party political
affiliation and is obliged to be neutral in parliamentary elections.
In the past, the Presidency has been a largely ceremonial post and
seen as "above" party politics. But, since taking power in a coup in
[October] 1999, Musharraf has radically changed the Constitution to
increase the powers of the presidency at the expense of parliamentary
powers, at the same time creating and supporting a political party,
the PML-Q, to serve his interests.
While Musharraf maintains that he has installed a neutral caretaker
government to oversee elections, he has openly supported the PML-Q
and
its allied parties [MQM], and formed a caretaker government filled
with PML-Q office-bearers and members. On December 17 [2007],
Musharraf asked participants at a public meeting in Vehari town in
southern Punjab to vote for parties that support him. Billboards in
the central city of Lahore and elsewhere in Punjab province
advertising development projects carry Musharraf's photograph as well
as that of outgoing Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi, Punjab, provincial
President of the PML-Q.
[Caretaker] Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro, [caretaker]
Information and Broadcasting Minister Nisar Memon and [caretaker]
federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Dr. Muhammad
Amjad, are prominent members of the PML-Q. Roshan Khurshid Bharucha,
another PML-Q member, is not only a Minister in the Balochistan
provincial caretaker government, but is also running as a candidate,
violating election rules that prohibit members of the caretaker
government at the national and provincial level from contesting
elections.
"The Election Commission should be quickly investigating all credible
allegations of electoral irregularities, whether they relate to
violence or misuse of state resources," said Adams. "Instead of using
its legal powers and moral authority to address these matters, the
Commission appears to be sitting on its hands."
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/11/pakist18034.htm
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/11/pakist18034_txt.htm
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=pakist
Publisher: INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - http://www.InformPress.com
- USA
Unlawful Detention of Justices and Lawyers Proves Pakistan Elections
are Rigged
http://groups.google.com/group/reportpress/t/b2895e3ad53a3ded
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080212_sharif_zardar...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08/story/2008/02/080212_rally_apdm...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08/story/2008/02/080211_nawaz_rigg...
http://www.voanews.com/urdu/pakistan-elections-riging-02-13-2008.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080212_ramday_judici...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080211_lawyers_boyco...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/specials/1642_law_prot_fz
http://www.voanews.com/urdu/elections-2008.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08
ReportPress.com Web-Email Newsletter Based in the USA:
- http://groups.google.com/group/reportpress
- http://www.justiceforum.info
- http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com
- http://pakistan.ahrchk.net
Publisher: INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - http://www.InformPress.com
- U.S.A.
- INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - USA
- Chief Editor: Journalist SYED ADEEB
- http://www.InformPress.com
==================================================
Pakistan Election Commission Not Impartial
Electoral Machinery Controlled by Musharraf Appointees
- http://www.dhandli.com.pk
- http://www.pmln.org.pk/news_detail.php?id=988
- http://www.khosas.com
New York, NY, USA, 12 February 2008 (InformPress.com) - The failure
of
Pakistan's Election Commission to act on allegations of
irregularities
means the electoral machinery for national elections due on February
18, 2008 cannot be considered impartial, Human Rights Watch [HRW]
said
today. The structure of the Commission, which has wide powers to
investigate complaints and take action, also suggests it will not
rule
fairly in the election.
Since the official election period commenced in November 2007, the
Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] has ignored allegations of
widespread irregularities, including arrests and harassment of
opposition candidates and party members, and the misuse of state
resources, administration and state machinery to the advantage of
candidates backed by [Outlaw Tyrant] Pervez Musharraf.
"There have been numerous complaints of improper government
assistance
to the ruling [PML-Q] party and illegal interference with opposition
activities," said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.
"But the election commission has done nothing significant to address
these problems, raising serious questions about its impartiality."
Human Rights Watch said that the Election Commission has taken
virtually no action on the widespread harassment of opposition
candidates through the registration of police cases against them,
police obstruction of opposition rallies, and the removal of lawful
opposition banners and billboards.
Human Rights Watch has documented the involvement of the local
administration in helping Musharraf-backed candidates, particularly
in
Punjab and Sindh provinces. For example:
-- In Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, the police have
illegally put up banners and posters for the Musharraf-backed
Pakistan
Muslim League (PML-Q) and torn down the electoral symbols of the
opposition.
-- On December 10, 2007, a television cameraman in Gahno Khose, Sindh
province, who filmed police providing illegal assistance to the
district mayor, deputy mayor, town police officer, executive district
officer and caretaker ministers during an electoral campaign told
Human Rights Watch that the mayor's men snatched his camera and
warned
him against broadcasting the report. Police then threatened to lodge
criminal cases against him. "I was afraid and informed my
organization. They told me to keep quiet and took on the
responsibility of talking to the concerned people," he said. "They
didn't lodge [a criminal case] against me, but I am receiving further
threats."
-- On December 26, 2007, police in Gujrat city, Punjab, prevented
opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidates from preparing
for a reception for their leader [Muhammad] Nawaz Sharif, citing oral
"orders from above." Municipal administration staff overnight removed
PML-N banners around the city. Police prevented the PML-N's Gujrat
youth wing from announcing Sharif's arrival, confiscated their
loudspeakers and detained six activists for several hours. Chaudhry
Mohammad Faraz, the PML-N General Secretary in Gujrat, told Human
Rights Watch: "Police blocked all roads leading to the venue to stop
people from welcoming Nawaz Sharif, from Jalalpur Jattan, Fatehpur,
Shadiwal, Kunja and Bhimber. People had to come on foot, one by
one."
-- On the night of December 20, 2007, unknown persons fired upon the
PML-N office set up in the residence of Muhammad Afzal at Mohallah
Kaloo Pura, Gujrat, after an anonymous telephone call telling Afzal
to
close the office down. Police did not collect evidence or register a
complaint.
-- In Thatta district, Sindh province, police have been obstructing
the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) by not giving security
clearance to its candidates to hold public meetings. The PPP's Sassui
Palijo, the only directly elected opposition party member in Thatta
district, told Human Rights Watch that the administration has been
interfering in their campaigns since the previous local bodies'
elections. "Now they are doing it again. They remove flags, banners
after our party workers put them up. ... We tell the election
commission
everything and show them evidence every three days. But they have
done
nothing to help us at all so far." Palijo said that a PPP worker,
Nawaz Ali Shah Qudusani, had to "go underground" after he went ahead
with a rally that the local mayor had warned him against holding;
police raided his house and arrested three people.
In its update of February 9, [2008], the Fair and Free Election
Network (FAFEN), an independent coalition of non-governmental
organizations [NGOs] with observers in more than 260 districts around
the country, said that one of the most frequent complaints they have
received is of "police harassing candidates and/or workers of certain
political parties by threatening that they will register cases
against
them. In addition, police are asking supporters and candidates of
political parties who formed the opposition during the previous
government to stop campaigning. In some cases, FAFEN observers
reported that police had directly asked candidates and local
government representatives to announce their support to the
[Musharraf-
backed] PML-Q." Observers from FAFEN have gathered reports of
intimidation and harassment by the police or other security agency
districts in all provinces.
Extensive government transfers and postings of judges and other
officials across the country violate legal provisions banning
postings
and transfers after the announcement of the election schedule, which
took place on November 20, 2007. The Election Commission has failed
to
stop or reverse transfers of district judges; the government has put
in place judges who independent observers fear could compromise
investigations into electoral malpractice. The government appointed
59
civil judges in early January [2008] across the North West Frontier
Province. Eleven civil judges were transferred. As well as
investigating complaints, district judges are also responsible for
aggregating the vote count on polling day.
In addition, Human Rights Watch has records of at least 90 transfers
of officials in Sindh province. After the announcement of the
election
schedule, several police officers were transferred across Sindh. Some
were posted as Station House Officers (SHOs) to police stations of
Kharipur district in Sindh. When the Assistant Election Commissioner
(AEC) in Jacobabad, Sindh, Liaquat Ali Afridi, refused to change
polling procedures or reduce the number of polling stations from 259
to 226, he was transferred and replaced with Hisaam Soomro, a
relative
of the caretaker Prime Minister [Mohammadmian Soomro] in Sindh.
Candidates have sent in more than 1,500 complaints of irregularities
from around the country, few of which have been investigated. Even
visible violations, like the use of electoral banners on government
offices, have been ignored. The Secretary of the Election Commission
of Pakistan, Kunwar Dilshad, denied responsibility, telling Human
Rights Watch that the Commission, which is dependent on the district-
level judiciary to investigate these complaints, is helpless to
investigate or act if judges send no evidence.
The Election Commission's lack of independence and impartiality is
among the crucial structural issues impeding free and fair elections.
The [illegal] president currently appoints the Chief Election
Commissioner [CEC] and the other commission members. The election law
requires members of the Election Commission, an ad hoc body, to be
High Court judges; their part-time status in the Election Commission
compromises their effectiveness. Two were appointed after Musharraf
imposed a state of Emergency on November 3, [2007], calling into
question their impartiality. For example, Justice Ghulam Dastagir
Shahani, a lawyer with no judicial experience, was appointed to the
Sindh High Court on December 14 [2007] and to the Election Commission
on January 5, [2008], by Musharraf, although more experienced judges
were available. The current Chief Election Commissioner, Qazi
Muhammad
Farooq, a retired Supreme Court judge, called his impartiality into
question when he amended the rules of the presidential polls of
October 2007 to allow Musharraf to contest the election while still
Army Chief, in violation of a clear constitutional prohibition.
The Election Commission has ignored recommendations made by
international observers, including the European Union, such as
changing the method of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner
and other members to ensure their impartiality. A key recommendation
from international election monitors in past elections relates to the
vote count aggregation and delays in announcement between results at
polling stations and the final result. Problems identified in the
past
have included the provision of results at polling stations on
unofficial papers. Transparency would be greatly improved if
certified
copies of each polling station result (compiled on form XVI) and
aggregated results (compiled on form XVII) were made immediately
available to the media, candidates, polling agents and observers.
Under Pakistani law, the President cannot hold a party political
affiliation and is obliged to be neutral in parliamentary elections.
In the past, the Presidency has been a largely ceremonial post and
seen as "above" party politics. But, since taking power in a coup in
[October] 1999, Musharraf has radically changed the Constitution to
increase the powers of the presidency at the expense of parliamentary
powers, at the same time creating and supporting a political party,
the PML-Q, to serve his interests.
While Musharraf maintains that he has installed a neutral caretaker
government to oversee elections, he has openly supported the PML-Q
and
its allied parties [MQM], and formed a caretaker government filled
with PML-Q office-bearers and members. On December 17 [2007],
Musharraf asked participants at a public meeting in Vehari town in
southern Punjab to vote for parties that support him. Billboards in
the central city of Lahore and elsewhere in Punjab province
advertising development projects carry Musharraf's photograph as well
as that of outgoing Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi, Punjab, provincial
President of the PML-Q.
[Caretaker] Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro, [caretaker]
Information and Broadcasting Minister Nisar Memon and [caretaker]
federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Dr. Muhammad
Amjad, are prominent members of the PML-Q. Roshan Khurshid Bharucha,
another PML-Q member, is not only a Minister in the Balochistan
provincial caretaker government, but is also running as a candidate,
violating election rules that prohibit members of the caretaker
government at the national and provincial level from contesting
elections.
"The Election Commission should be quickly investigating all credible
allegations of electoral irregularities, whether they relate to
violence or misuse of state resources," said Adams. "Instead of using
its legal powers and moral authority to address these matters, the
Commission appears to be sitting on its hands."
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/11/pakist18034.htm
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/11/pakist18034_txt.htm
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=pakist
Publisher: INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - http://www.InformPress.com
- USA
Unlawful Detention of Justices and Lawyers Proves Pakistan Elections
are Rigged
http://groups.google.com/group/reportpress/t/b2895e3ad53a3ded
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080212_sharif_zardar...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08/story/2008/02/080212_rally_apdm...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08/story/2008/02/080211_nawaz_rigg...
http://www.voanews.com/urdu/pakistan-elections-riging-02-13-2008.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080212_ramday_judici...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/02/080211_lawyers_boyco...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/specials/1642_law_prot_fz
http://www.voanews.com/urdu/elections-2008.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/elections08
ReportPress.com Web-Email Newsletter Based in the USA:
- http://groups.google.com/group/reportpress
- http://www.justiceforum.info
- http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com
- http://pakistan.ahrchk.net
Publisher: INFORMATION PRESS - News Views Media - http://www.InformPress.com
- U.S.A.
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