Pakistan Freedom Movement (PFM) chairman has written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to present a few suggestions for the conduct of ‘free and fair’ elections in the country.
In a letter, Haroon Khawaja suggested to the CEC that “to increase turnout and to assure the voters that their vote matters, an option of “none of the above” (NOTA) should be introduced in the ballot papers. All constituencies where NOTA gets the most votes should hold re-election among completely new candidates. This option, as you know, was to be in place in the 2013 elections, but for some unexplained reasons, it was withdrawn at the last moment. Further, the option is being successfully practiced in India and Bangladesh.”
He further stated that all posts of provincial secretaries, DCs, and DPOs should be reshuffled by officers from a different province.
“All billboards, banners, posters, stickers, flyers, flags, etc. should be banned completely. This is where candidates spend a sizeable amount of their expenses, and, hence, one who has more money can project himself better than the one (perhaps better qualified) who is short of funds. This ban would also automatically curtail election spending, provide a comparatively level playing field for all candidates (whether wealthy or not), and encourage a lot of deserving candidates who do not come forward thinking that they cannot afford to contest in the current climate,” the letter read.
The PFM chef said that candidates should be banned from spending money on transport to gather their voters and take them to the polling stations. This will not only further curtail the extraordinary funds spent on electioneering (which gives the moneyed candidate an unfair edge over a middle-class candidate) but will also significantly reduce the chances of clashes between supporters of opposing candidates.
“Commercial advertising (electronic and print media, radio, and billboards) by individual candidates should be completely banned. The parties may be allowed to advertise within a certain budget (say Rs 200 million per party) that should be monitored by ECP through PEMRA and PTA,” he suggested.
He said that the media should be mandated to allocate equal time to all parties. Coverage of rallies by parties should be banned during the election campaign. Instead, ECP-approved or mandated debates should be initiated on all channels under a code of conduct that ensures equality and fairness. These debates should be monitored by the ECP through a complaint mechanism system (i.e., a participant or someone who has not been invited should have the option to complain to the ECP).
“Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution are to be strictly implemented before a candidate is declared eligible for contesting,” he suggested.