Pildat recommends thorough investigation into Feb 8 elections that recorded lowest fairness score

The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) has recommended that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation” into several election related matters, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Wednesday.

These include delays in the transmission, consolidation and announcement of provisional results, and the failure to publish signed copies of forms 45, 46, 48 and 49 within 14 days of polling day as required under the Elections Act, 2017, and the lack of contingency planning to meet result issuance deadlines in case of the EMS inoperability.

Pildat further recommends that election tribunals should be allowed to resolve disputes on a case-by-case basis

“Pildat is deeply concerned that only two Election Tribunals have been constituted in Punjab compared to eight constituted after 2018 general election and nine reportedly requested by the ECP this time,” according to an assessment by the group.

It also demanded that a Commission of Enquiry be formed similar to the one formed to probe the 2013 election.

The PILDAT has released its assessment of the 2024 General Election, indicating a concerning decline in fairness scores compared to previous election cycles.

The assessment was based on an independent analysis by Pildat, alongside a questionnaire scored by politicians, lawyers, activists, retired bureaucrats and military officials, and politically aware youth. The assessment was divided into three parts; the pre-polling process, polling on election day, and the post-polling process.

The report highlighted key issues including political repression, suspension of mobile and internet services on polling day, delay in announcement of election results, delay in publishing the results of Forms 45, 46, 48 and 49 on the website of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and a delay in allocating reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council.

The pre-poll phase — which dealt with questions about the impartiality of key institutions such as the judiciary, the ECP, caretaker governments and intelligence agencies — scored 50 per cent, matching the score of the 2018 election but lower than 62 per cent scored by the 2013 election.

The overall score of the second phase stood at 40 per cent, matching the 2018 election score but significantly lower than the 2013 election score of 50 per cent. This phase assessed the voting process itself, as well as the counting of votes.

The post-poll phase also scored 40 per cent, an “an all-time low score which mirrored that of the 2002 general election which had seen unprecedented post-poll rigging in recent years,” the Pildat report said.