Islamabad, November 29; Citizens Group on Electoral Process, a group of eminent Pakistani citizens, has demanded that the term of Election Commissioners should be set by Parliament at 5 Years, as is the term of the Chief Election Commissioner.

The Group, which is facilitated by PILDAT, met here today and reviewed the Members, Election Commission (Oath of Office, Salary, Allowances, Perks and Privileges) Bill 2011, which has been introduced in the National Assembly of Pakistan on November 21, 2011. The Group noted with concern that the bill, if passed in its current form by the Parliament, will fix the term of office of the Members of the Election Commission of Pakistan to 2 years from the date they takes the oath of the Office. This will be detrimental to smooth functioning and independence of the Election Commission as the Election Commission of Pakistan itself had recommended that the term of the Office of its members should be fixed at 5 years.

The CGEP reminded that the 18th Constitutional Amendment had increased the term of the office of Chief Election Commissioner from 3 to 5 years. The Group highlighted that everywhere in the World, including in the South Asian region, Chief Election Commissioner and the Commissioners have the same term. The term of the Chief Election Commissioner and the members of the Election Commission in India is 6 years while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh provide for a 5-year term of Chief and members of the Election Commission.

The Citizens Group took a strong exception to the Government efforts to reduce the term of Election Commission members to 2 years and has demanded that this term be fixed at 5 years like that of the Chief Election Commissioner. It demanded of the Government to revise the bill and increase the term of ECP members to 5 years. The Group especially asked the Members of Parliament and members of the Standing Committees on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to not pass the law in its present form and change the term of the members of the ECP to 5 years as is the international norm.

The CGEP also noted that the current government and Parliament deserve the credit for appointing the four full-time permanent members of the Election Commission for the first time in the history of the country in accordance with the 18th Constitutional Amendment as serving judges of the high court served as part-time members of the ECP before the 18th Amendment. The four members of the ECP were inducted on June 13, 2011 following a bi-partisan consensus which is a rare feat in the history of the country. It is important that the Government consolidates these gains rather than diluting their effect, CGEP added. A short term of the members especially when it is about to end right after the scheduled date of General Election will subject the members to undue pressure, CGEP noted.

Members of the Citizens Group who were part of the meeting included Mr. Arif Nizami, Editor Pakistan Today; Mr. Babbar Sattar, Advocate High Court; Mr. Fahd Hussain, Executive Director Special Projects, ARY TV; Mr. Ghazi Salahuddin, Columnist, Dr. Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Defence and Political Analyst; Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gillani, Chairman Gallup Pakistan; Dr. Moeed Pirzada, Anchor; Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider, former Governor Sindh; Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief Daily Pakistan; Justice (Retd.) Nasira Iqbal, former Judge Lahore High Court; Mr. Omer Khan Afridi, former Caretaker Minister; Dr. Parvez Hassan, Lawyer; Justice (Retd.) Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui, former Chief Justice of Pakistan; Mr. Shahid Hamid, former Governor Punjab; Syed Fasih Iqbal, Editor in Chief Balochistan Times; Mr. Zubyr Soomoro, Banker, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director and Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director, PILDAT.