My words in "The Frontier post"

[VetDoctor]

Incomplete constitution

The National Assembly completed its tenure on 16th March and mutual consultation for the caretaker PM between PM and opposition leader ended without any consensual decision, later on the parliamentary committee also failed to reach a decision and at last the ECP-which wasn’t a representative body- decided this matter and nominated the caretaker PM on 24th March.
This process was adopted after the 20th amendment but the members of parliamentary committee themselves stated that the said amendment is not enough for this procedure and the next parliament should revisit this amendment.
It was decided by the ECP that there will be merciless scrutiny of the nomination papers for the general election 2013. But this entrancing statement met the same fate as the shibboleth of the political parties which they used to say ahead of every election. During scrutiny of the nomination papers filed by the thousands of candidates for the general elections 2013, a number of them had been rejected by the returning officers, keeping in view the article 62 and 63 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
One problem which was faced by the returning officers was that there were no set rules or guidelines for the scrutiny of nomination papers, due to which the candidates were left at the mercy of returning officers. Due to lack of guidelines, nomination papers of some candidates were accepted in one constituency while the same nomination papers were rejected in the other constituency.
The rejected candidates filed appeals against their rejection and during the hearings conducted by the concerned tribunals, nomination papers of most of these candidates have been accepted despite all the allegations against those candidates. Although the educational documents of some candidates have been declared fake by the concerned institutions while some candidates have been declared defaulters but the tribunal paid no heed to these facts.
On the other hand nomination papers of some candidates have been rejected on the same grounds which make no sense. If the ECP wanted to show some generosity to the candidates then this favor should have been given to all candidates, but it wasn’t the case.
These facts clearly shows that the article 62 and 63 are not enough for the scrutiny of the candidates or it can be stated that these articles are impracticable to prove the eligibility of the candidates, therefore these articles need to be modified, so that the scrutiny process can be made easy and effective. Now it is the task of the next parliament to amend the constitution in this regard and make this process free of controversy and incertitude.
Dr. Shabbir Ahmad
Shabqadar

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/e-paper/