Taj Haider criticises govt for attacking ECP

Islamabad: Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Senate on Parliamentary Affairs, Senator Taj Haider said Tuesday that the criticism on Election Commission of Pakistan for not conducting pilot projects on i-voting or voting machines was completely misplaced and in order to clear the confusion that has been created it was necessary that the record on the pilot projects undertaken by the ECP should be set straight.

As also mentioned in the Report of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs ECP in December 2018 had submitted its Reports on Pilot Tests on i-voting in 35 constituencies and its Report on Biometric Verification Machines (BVMs) tested in NA 120.

Senator Taj Haider said it was unfortunate that neither of the two Houses of the Parliament took up these Reports for discussion in the last 33 months in order to give directions in this regard to the ECP.

Instead the Government appointed a foreign consultant to give his opinion on the Report on i-voting. The foreign consultant also gave their opinion that i-voting at the present stage did not meet the standards required for holding free and fair elections.

The real tragedy is that consensus reached in the Senate Standing Committee on the two Electoral Reform Bills which was to be transformed into positive recommendations was torpedoed by an Advisor and a Minister. The Government staged a walkout in the Committee on its own Bills and the difference of opinion if any has now been converted into attacks on the person of Honorable Chief Election Commissioner.

Why are some people afraid of consensus and why are they prepared to go down to any level in order to sabotage consensus is not understood, Senator Taj Haider concluded.