Islamabad, 11 December 2007: Pakistan Peoples Party has welcomed NDI's letter consisting the recommendations from the political parties for holding free, fair, impartial and transparent elections. These recommendations were presented by the political parties in a series of roundtable conferences organized by the National Democratic Institute and the Centre for Civic Education to provide an opportunity for representatives of political parties to discussed election related issues.

Following is the NDI's letter addressed to the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan, Kanwar Dilshad:

Composition of the ECP

• Members of the ECP from NWFP and Sindh have still not been appointed despite repeated recommendations to do so.  Important decisions about elections are being made in provinces with no representation on the ECP. The Election Commission of Pakistan should be fully constituted, as per the Constitution.
  
  Voters List

• The Voters List is a critical tool for political parties to identify supporters and get out the vote on election day.  The ECP had previously announced that the Final Voters List would be available as soon as the election was called but to date it is still not available in many districts.  In compliance with an order from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Voters List should be made available immediately to all contesting parties and candidates in hard copy and electronic form and posted on the ECP website.
  
  List of Polling Stations

• There is considerable concern about the negative impact of so-called "ghost" or improvised polling stations.  To build confidence in the transparency of the elections, the final list of polling stations should be made available to all contestants and put on the ECP website at least two weeks prior to the election date.
  
  Code of Conduct

• Most of the recommendations about the draft Code of Conduct submitted to
  the ECP by the political parties were not incorporated into the final
  Code of Conduct.  As a result, there are numerous issues related to the
  final Code including:

• It is unclear what happens to a complaint once it is filed with the Commission.  For example, it was pointed out by the PPP that a candidate for N-A 265 and Provincial Assembly PB  Dera Bugti, Mr. Sarfaraz Bugti, was detained by security agencies on November 18 without charge.  His father filed a complaint to obtain his release so he could file nomination papers.  The complaint was forwarded to the Chief Secretary Sindh on November 26 after the deadline for filing nomination papers. The complainant has not received any information about the status of the complaint and Mr. Bugti remains in jail, having been prevented from filing his nomination.  A rationale for actions and decisions of the ECP regarding submitted complaints should be given to the complainant in writing.

• A clear and transparent complaint submission and adjudication system for Code of Conduct violations should be communicated to all the stakeholders to ensure there is clarity and accountability to all stakeholders throughout the complaint process.

• Political parties and candidates are required to comply with the Code of Conduct but the code does not include a monitoring mechanism, a complaint process or penalties for violations. ECP should ensure compliance with its Code of Conduct and sanction violations.

• Since the regulation of all the election issues falls under the jurisdiction of the ECP, parties criticized the interference of the Ministry of Interior into electoral matters and urged the ECP to clarify the status of the Ministry of Interior "addition" to the Code of Conduct regarding public rallies.
  
  Misuse of State Resources

• In a case reported at the roundtable, a complaint was filed by the PPP with the ECP on November 28 that the head of PML-Q was going to distribute plots to journalists later that day.  The PPP reported that they filed the complaint before the ceremony but no action was taken by the ECP and the ceremony went ahead.  Prompt action is required to investigate complaints about misuse of state resources and, where a violation of the code is determined, it must be rectified. Use of state resources for campaign purposes should be sanctioned and violators
  should be penalized.

• The ECP should ensure that the ban imposed on transfers and postings of civil servants is upheld and take prompt and adequate action when violations are proven.
  
  Role of Intelligence Agencies

• The PML-N reported that candidates are being threatened and harassed. The ECP should investigate cases alleging the involvement of the intelligence agencies in the kidnapping of a potential candidate and threats to candidates, and take appropriate action in a timely manner.

• In addition, the following concerns were discussed as obstacles to free, fair and transparent elections and should be brought to the attention of the ECP:

• The state of emergency and PCO are incompatible with free and fair
  elections. The state of emergency should be lifted immediately and the
  constitution restored.

• Freedom of the media should be fully restored to ensure parties and candidates have an opportunity to communicate with voters, voters have access to information about the elections and the media have the right to cover all aspects of the election.

• Government should repeal the new PEMRA ordinances and allow the return of all TV channels and former TV programs.  Existing laws provide the necessary sanctions to ensure civil discourse.

• The official state media should provide equal access to all contestants during the campaign.

• The government should lift the ban on holding public rallies.

• The government should release all candidates and party workers from jail or house arrest and all candidates should be allowed to campaign freely.

CCE and NDI will continue to organize weekly roundtables with the parties in the weeks leading up to the election. The parties noted with dismay, however, the continuous absence of representatives of the Election Commission of Pakistan at the roundtables and a lack of response from the ECP to recommendations made by the political parties in the past.  They unanimously urged the Commission to attend future meetings to provide information to the parties, address their concerns, and clarify any misunderstandings.

We will continue to inform you about the schedule for the roundtables and we respectfully request that an ECP representative will attend to help ensure the political parties receive necessary information about the electoral process and have an opportunity to raise outstanding concerns as a means of building confidence in the overall process.

The copy of the letter has also been sent to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Chairperson, Pakistan Peoples Party and members and office bearers of several political parties.