Lahore, February 07; PILDAT Citizens Group on Electoral Process has asked that General Election in Pakistan should not be delayed for any reason.

Members of the Citizens Group were addressing a Citizens Forum on State of Electoral Reforms in Pakistan organised by PILDAT here today.

Taking note of the ECP�s proposed Package of Amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1976 (LXXXV of 1976), the Group largely supported the reform package barring the ECP proposal to increase the amounts of deposits by the candidates for the membership of National and Provincial Assemblies. The ECP�s proposal to increase Rs. 4000 to Rs. 50,000 for National Assembly and Rs. 2000 to Rs. 25,000 for Provincial Assembly will further discourage a person of modest means to contest election, believed CGEP. The Parliament must consider reducing the proposed amount, said members.

Supporting the proposal to make violation of Code of Conduct a punishable offence, the Group proposed that Code of Conduct should be agreed to by the parties and passed by the Parliament before it is provided legal cover.

The Group asked the Parliament to thoroughly consider the electoral proposals contained in the Supreme Court judgement in the Constitution Petition No. 87 of 2011 (Workers Party Pakistan v. Federation of Pakistan, etc.). As most of these proposals, such as first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, compulsory voting, run-off election, and none of the above (NOTA) options in the ballot paper, etc. venture into policy areas, the Government and the Parliament should consider these and take a decision on these in the on-going session. It is feared that if left undecided, most of these proposals will be invoked after the General Election 2013 to contest election results.

Discussing the on-going re-verification of voters in Karachi, the Group demanded that the Election Commission must provide information on progress made so far. The Group hoped that an effective re-verification process will complete soon. The Group also raised concerns on the prospects of free and fair election in Karachi especially in view of law and order scenario in some parts of the metrolopolis.

Mr. Shahid Hamid, Senior Advocate Supreme Court, Dr. Parvez Hassan, Senior Advocate Supreme Court, Mr. Arif Nizami, Editor Pakistan Today, Mr. Ghazi Salahuddin, Senior Analyst and Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT, addressed the Forum.

PILDAT Report on State of Electoral Reforms in Pakistan: January 2013 was also unveiled at the Forum.

Earlier, the Citizens Group met with Mr. Shahid Hamid in the chair, and members including Mr. Arif Nizami, Senior Journalist and Editor Pakistan Today, Dr. Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Defence and Political Analyst, Mr. Ghazi Salahuddin, Senior Analyst, Mr. Babar Sattar, Advocate High Court, Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief Daily Pakistan, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President and Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director PILDAT.

The Forum has been held by PILDAT under the project Supporting Monitoring of Democracy, Electoral Reforms and Development of Youth in Pakistan which is supported by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Government of Denmark.