Pakistan: Human rights body raises concern over polls uncertainty, expresses concerns over delimitation

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 4 : The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed concerns over the uncertainty regarding the upcoming general elections while highlighting the issue of delimitation and rising polarisation, reported The Express Tribune.

They demanded these elections adhere as closely as possible to the 90-day period stated in the constitution.  

As per a statement, the governing council of the HRCP insisted that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should promptly announce the general polls schedule.

“The governing Council of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on concluding a meeting earlier today, has expressed immense concern over the uncertainty surrounding the general #elections," the rights organisation said in a tweet.

It further said that the delimitation of constituencies should be completed efficiently and as soon as possible.

“HRCP insists that the @ECP_Pakistan announce an election schedule promptly such that polls are held as close as possible to the stipulated 90-day period. The delimitation of constituencies must also be completed quickly and efficiently and under no circumstances used as an excuse to delay the elections any further," the statement added.

Moreover, it added that it should not be used as an excuse to delay the elections any further, according to The Express Tribune. 

The HRCP further showed concern over manipulating the electoral process through institutions including the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). It also urged the commission to guard against this. 

Moreover, the HRCP expressed its worries over the scope for manipulating the electoral process through institutions including the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and urged the commission to guard against this possibility.

According to The Express Tribune, the HRCP further said that it was greatly alarmed by the increasingly polarised environment in which religious and sectarian divisions were being exacerbated reportedly to carve out artificial political space for far-right parties including the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). 

“The divisive and violent tactics used by such parties to build their political identities particularly at the expense of religious minorities and sects are eating into organic political and civic spaces,” the statement read.

“The continuing terrorist violence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has also made political parties more apprehensive about campaigning in the province a pattern we have witnessed before and must not go through again,” it added.

The HRCP further noted that the "test" of the current caretaker government was not just to ensure elections were held in a free, fair and credible manner but also to respond to the issues of ordinary citizens which they were mobilising around. 

Amid increasing inflation and hiked power tariff, thousands of traders observed a shutter-down strike and took to the streets across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday. They protested against the soaring inflation, inflated electricity bills and the recent hike in petroleum prices. 

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) called on the strike along with different traders associations and was supported by lawyers, with the legal community boycotting courtrooms, reported The Express Tribune. 

Moreover, on Sunday, Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said that as per the law, deciding the date for general elections in the country is the prerogative of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). 

In an interview with a Pakistani local news channel, the interim PM also said that his government would comply with whatever the decision made by the Supreme Court regarding the upcoming polls.

The issue arose after President Arif Alvi invited Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja last month for a meeting to “fix an appropriate date” for general elections after the ECP expressed its inability to hold elections within the constitutionally mandated period.  

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