1. That the
petitioner is the Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). She was
twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. Even in the rigged elections of
October 2002, her party secured the highest number of votes in the
country. The PPP is bracing for the general elections which are scheduled
to be held during the latter part of this year, and is sanguine of a
landslide victory due to its soaring popularity amongst the masses. The
party in power formed and backed by the Army Chief General Pervez Musharaf
to forestall their route have embarked upon pre poll rigging. Apart from
the President in uniform openly campaigning for the ruling party, is
massively expending money on various projects shutting out the grant of
opposition members of Parliament for their developmental priorities.
Through the LFO (Legal Frame Work Order) accredited by the 17th
amendment, General Pervez Musharaf and his created NSC (National Security
Council), usurped all powers unto himself and militarized the Presidency
rendering the Prime Minister, the cabinet, and the Parliament, a mere
rubber stamp. The judiciary was also sought to be subjugated by coercing
the CJP to resign, and on his failure to oblige he was initially
suspended, the made non-functional and henceforth sent on forced leave
with reference being sent for his removal to the Supreme Judicial Council.
The media (electronic and press) was assaulted, and the 4rth pillar of the
state was thus tried to be brow beaten into submission. All such efforts
were meant to get re-elected and bail out the ruling coalition, which was
facing wrath of the people, due to complete failure of governance in all
phases of life.
2. That
the preparatory steps towards the general elections started with the
preparation of voters list through the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The electoral rolls were contemplated for which funds were provided by
USAID, the contract of which was awarded to parties having liaison with
the Chief Minister Punjab and President of the Ruling Party (PML-Q). The
reservations to which effect were notified to the Election Commission of
Pakistan at the very inception but to no avail. It was also pointed out in
writing to the Election Commission of Pakistan that only additions and
exclusions be made in the existing electoral rolls of 2002 and a
completely substituted list of voters was not required which could be done
only at the time of census which are held after every 10 years and are due
in the year 2008. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan went
through the process by appointing enumerators all over the country for
enlistment of voters. In the province of Sindh, the teachers were on
strike and there were torrential rains. The job was assigned to the MQM in
the urban areas and to the Chief Minister Sindh in the rural areas. They
massively marginalized the strong hold of PPP in all the constituencies
and sliced away 47 lac votes in 23 districts of Sindh. Even the
constituency of the Chairperson in Larkana was brought down from 601200
(Six hundred one thousand two hundred) votes existing in the electoral
list of 2002 to 348000 (Three hundred forty eight thousand) in 2007. Thus
causing a shortfall of 251000 (Two hundred and fifty one thousand) votes.
The total percentage of non registration of votes in the province of Sindh
is 39 percent. Likewise, in the province of Punjab, the enumerators after
collecting the forms were required to submit the same to the Nazims who by
and large are under the control of the Chief Minister and the President of
Pakistan and where too 1.5 crore votes were axed mainly from the strong
hold constituencies of the opposition.
a. In
Baluchistan, however, the votes have been increased, and where generally
the women folk are not even allowed to vote, a whopping 140 percent
increase has been reflected in the preliminary list. The figures of which
have been given by Pildat, an organization of high repute.
3.
That the
overall position which emerges draft computerized voters list displayed by
the ECP is that the total number of voters registered are five crore
twenty one lac two thousand four hundred and twenty eight. Whereas, in the
electoral list of 2002 prepared by the election commission itself and on
the basis of which general elections were held in 2002 the number of
voters was 71.86 million. In the span of 5 years, the eligible voters
should have been increased to 82 million. Surprisingly, instead a
shortfall of 27 million has been shown which is equivalent to 33 percent
of the total number of voters reflected in the electoral list of 2002.
Thus one third of the eligible voters of Pakistan have been dis
franchised.
4. That
decrease of women voters through identical comparison with the list of
2002 and the year 2007 is as follows: FATA 96 percent, Sindh 41 percent,
Punjab 37 percent, Islamabad 19 percent. Such massive decrease cannot be
countenanced on any hypothesis.
5. That
when the preliminary electronic lists were thus displayed by the ECP on
June 12, 2007, all these discrepancies have prominently surfaced. In the
process of preparation of the electronic voters lists, the PPP had been
constantly approaching the CEC respondent no. 2 and also submitting
written complaints seeking remedial action for registration of all
eligible voters. Even the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as well as
the Center of Civic Education Pakistan (CCE) had not only held multi party
round table conferences and sent its unanimous recommendations for
enabling the complete registration of voters towards ensuring transparency
in the forthcoming elections. Copies of the letters reflecting such
recommendations are attached as Annexure B periodical letters sent to the
CEC and the representations made by the PPP are attached as annexure C
6. That
on June 16, 2007, the delegation of the Election Monitoring Cell PPP
headed by Senator Sardar Muhammad Latin Khan Khosa called upon the CEC and
apart from delivering the letter of the Chairperson PPP pleaded for
remedying the defects in the preliminary electoral lists to ensure that no
eligible voter is kept out and facilitated his entitlement to vote as
mandated by Articled 51 (2) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan. The copy of the letter of the Chairperson so delivered to the
CEC is attached as Annexure D.
7. That
the CEC in response to the letter afforrefered replied to the Chairperson.
Copy of which is attached as annexure E. The Chairperson of PPP, however
wrote back requiring the commission to “fulfill the promise of holding
fair elections so that Pakistan can stand tall in the comity of nations as
having made the transition to democracy by accepting the true will of the
people of our great nation” Copy of the letter is attached as annexure F.
8. That
however, the discussions with the Chief Elections Commissioner as well as
his written response dated, June 20th, 2007 annexed hereto
reveal that there is no possibility of worthwhile rectification of the
electoral lists by the CEC. Hence this petition before the apex court as
the matter is of fundamental public importance and needs the most urgent
rectification so that 25 million citizens of Pakistan entitled to vote are
not disfranchised, inter alia on the following:
GROUNDS
(a) That
Article 51 of the constitution postulated that there shall be 342 seats of
the member of the National Assembly including seats reserved for women and
Non-Muslims. Sub Article (2) of the said Article reads that a person shall
be entitled to vote if he is a citizen of Pakistan and is not less than 18
years of age and his name appears on the electoral roll. The entire scheme
of the constitution thus empowers the citizens of Pakistan (above the age
of 18 years) to elect members to the National Assembly and the leader of
which house would have the right of governance. It is thus the people of
Pakistan who through their representative would regulate the affairs of
the country for the stipulated period. The entitlement to vote is not
dependant on the possession of National Identity card. Thus no
conditionality contrary to the mandate of the constitution can be attached
to the enlistment of a voter in the electoral lists prepared by the ECP.
(b) (b).
That even in the Electoral Rolls Act, 1974 section 6 (2) enjoins upon the
registration officer to enroll as a voter a citizen of Pakistan who is not
less than 18 years of age. Such enrollment is not dependant upon the prior
production of the NIC. Preliminary publication of the electoral rolls in
section 8 of the Act IBID does not postulate any condition of non-entry of
his name in such list. The stipulation for claims to inclusion, exclusion,
and correction in the preliminary list under section 10 mentions 21 days
for so doing. However, such a stipulation would not stand in the way of
the ECP to ensure his constitutional obligation of entitling every
eligible voter to vote and his legal right to be enrolled and enlisted in
the voters list which is not dependant or clogged by the existence or
production of NIC. Likewise, for correction of electoral rolls under
section 15, NIC is not required. Final publication under section 16 after
making additions, deletions, modifications or corrections thus is not
dependant on any conditionality of NIC. It is only thereafter, that
section 18 caters for production of NIC issued under the National
Registration Act, 1973, when enrollment and correction at a time other
than the annual revision is sought, which is not the case and hence not
applicable.
(c)
That
even in the Peoples Representation Act, 1976 it was provided that the
voter shall not be issued the ballot paper unless he produced NIC, the
division bench of Lahore High Court in the reported case PLD 1989 Lahore 1
struck down the same holding that it was contrary to the constitutional
right of the citizen of Pakistan. Even this honorable court declared the
law accordingly holding that the constitutional right cannot be whittled
down by any subordinate legislation reliance 1985 SCMR 365
(d)
That NADRA’s NIC is essentially required for the issuance of passport,
Arms and Driving license etc. and the Registration Act, 1973 does not
carry any stipulation to make it pre requisite for registration of vote or
right of franchise of a citizen of Pakistan. The issuance of NIC is
statutory functionary of the Director General in the Act IBID and if NADRA
has been able to issue only 57433474 NIC’s, then it is no fault of the
over the 3 crore citizens who have not yet been issued the NIC’s. For such
fault of the statutory functionaries a citizen of Pakistan cannot be
deprived of his fundamental rights. The entire edifice of Parliamentary
democracy and grundnorm of the 1973 constitution depends upon facilitating
the eligible people of Pakistan to cast their votes and exercise their
right to franchise. It is pertinent to note that the Late Prime Minister
Shamed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto directed the free issuance of NIC which
practice continued during his tenure. The procedure and the fee hence
forth being extracted for obtaining NIC is harsh, cumbersome, and
tantamount to denial of the NIC to the citizens of Pakistan.
(e)
That the preliminary electronic voters list is not being supplied to the
petitioner and other political parties despite repeated requests not only
at their end but also by the NDI and CCE. The display centers are an
apology of the process as the same are neither available in most of the
rural union councils nor is the staff present and the requisite forms are
equally unavailable. The ECP has declined to furnish copy of the
preliminary electronic voters list without which the political parties as
well as the eligible voters are completely at a loss to decipher whether
there names are reflected on the lists or not. Even the ECP has failed to
conduct the effective public awareness campaign. The public has little
information about the display centers where the hard copies of the voter
lists are supposedly being displayed. The exact location ad telephone
numbers are not provided to the general public without which the use of
such centers is meaningless. The ECP has time and again asked to engage in
dialogue with the parties, provide information and updates on the
electoral process but the stake holders are completely denied such a round
table conference which was essentially required for rendering the
transparency to the electoral process.
(f)
That the
petitioner and other stake holders have constantly represented and
requested that the preliminary electronic list may be displayed on the Web
Site of the ECP from which it could be downloaded/viewed by the parties
for undergoing the process of correction, rectification, etc. However,
even such a request was turned down.
(g)
That the
petitioner and other political parties besides the NDI and the CCE had
also besieged the ECP to provide to all political parties the computerized
list in electronic format, which has unfortunately also been turned down.
It has been an informed that the final computerized list would be
available for sale the price of which is estimated 5 million rupees.
Obviously, such an exorbitant and excessive amount would be beyond the
reach of many political and social organizations, and this would
tantamount to the denial of the final computerized lists.
(h)
That the political parties and the public at large are clamoring for their
right of enrollment of the eligible voters in the computerized lists being
finalized by the ECP. Although the time is running out and over 3 crore
voted need to be registered, the respondents remain unmoved. Needless to
mention that Article 4 of the constitution confers inalienable right upon
every citizen to enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in
accordance with law, wherever he maybe. Similarly, under Article 25 of the
constitution all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal
protection of law. Consequently depriving one third of the eligible voters
from being enlisted as voters and depriving them of their right of
franchise is negation of the inalienable and fundamental rights conferred
and guaranteed upon the people of Pakistan.
(i)
That
such process of eliminating huge number of voters from the 3 provinces and
increasing the number of voted in Baluchistan are clearly acts of malafide
amounting to perpetuating the illegitimate existing regime which came into
power through usurpation of peoples rights. In case such manipulated lists
are made the basis of lections in the country the process would be bereft
of constitutional, legal, and moral premises and would not be acceptable
to the people of Pakistan. Such a fraud perpetrated would endanger the
very federation and be detrimental to the interest of Pakistan.
PRAYER:
It is therefore
respectfully prayed that the respondents be directed to update the
computerized/ electronic voters lists to encompass the names of all
persons entitled to vote in terms of Article 51 (2) of The Constitution of
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
It is further
prayed that non registration of votes of the entitled voters conditioned
to the availability of the NIC issued by NADRA may be declared as without
lawful authority and of no legal consequence.
It is further
prayed that the respondent no. 1and 2 be directed to furnish copy of the
computerized/electronic voters list to the petitioner and other political
parties free of cost and also have the same displayed on the Web Site of
the ECP so as to facilitate the downloading of the same by the
stakeholders.
It is further
prayed that till the decision of this petition the final
computerized/electronic may be held in abeyance.
Any other writ,
relief or direction expedient in the interest of justice may also be
issued in vindication of the grievances afforerefered.
PETITIONER
THROUGH
1. SARDAR
MUHAMMAD LATIF KHAN KHOSA
SENIOR ADVOCATE
SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
2. FAROOQ
H. NAEK
ADVOCATE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
3. SARDAR
KHURRAM KHAN KHOSA
ADVOCATE SUPREME COURT
OF PAKISTAN
