Islamabad: The Election Commission has decided to make the Election Commission more empowered to change the date of the election and the election program57 (1) and 58 of the Act 2017 recommended to be amended.
Proposed draft for parliamentary affairs relating to amendment of the Election Act has come forward. After the amendment in Section 57 (1), the Election Commission will have the authority to propose the polling day for the elections, while under Section 58, the Election Commission will also have the authority to issue the election schedule. By amending Section 58, the role of the Election Commission will be strengthened and no one will be able to interfere.
According to the draft, only the Election Commission will set the date for the general elections will be authorized to declare.
Amendments have also been recommended to eliminate ambiguity in changing the lecture program or giving a fresh election programme. The Election Commission will be able to change the election program at various stages and give a new election date and new election program with written reasons.
The Election Commission has prepared to send the amendment draft to the Secretary Parliamentary Affairs. Secretary Election Commission to Parliamentary Affairs The letter also mentioned the reasons behind the amendments.
According to the text of the letter, the Election Commission is an authoritative body, so it is its responsibility to conduct clean and transparent elections, while the mandate of the Election Commission to conduct elections is not subordinate to anyone. According to the constitution, the Election Commission has to decide whether the conditions are suitable for conducting elections or not.
Recent judgments of the Supreme Court deprived the Election Commission of exercising the powers enumerated in Article 218(3). Election Commission under 218(3).Elections have to be decided after reviewing the circumstances.
The Supreme Court’s Worker Party case and Al-Jihad Trust case defined the role of the Election Commission. According to the Worker Party case, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to conduct the election and make all necessary arrangements before the election.
According to the Al-Jihad Trust case, it cannot be said that the Chief Election Commissioner is subordinate to any authority to discharge his responsibility. No provision of the constitution supports giving the date of the election of the President after the dissolution of the National Assembly or the end of the term, therefore the announcement of the election date by the President in the Election Act 2017 is against the constitutional intention, so to remove this ambiguity 57(1) and 58 are recommended to be amended for.