Disposal of poll petitions may miss deadline: Fafen report
On 19 August, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) released a report reviewing the working of the election tribunals with regard to disposing of elections petitions filed after the 8 February elections. The report revealed that 377 petitions have been filed with 23 elections tribunals across four provinces and Islamabad after the February general elections. Only 25 petitions of these have been disposed of by 17 August which is seven per cent of the total petitions filed. Four out of these 25 petitions were concerned with the National Assembly (NA) constituencies and 21 with the Provincial Assembly (PA) constituencies. The report also highlighted that with six election tribunals in Punjab being non-functional combined with the slow pace of functioning, the tribunals will not be able to dispose of cases within the legal deadline of 180 days. The timely disposal of these poll petitions is significant. An editorial in Dawn titled “Troubled tribunals” described election tribunals as “third-party arbiters between the disputing candidates” and highlighted their role in providing closure to post-poll disputes. The editorial referenced how the aftermath of the 8 February General Elections was dotted with allegations of poll rigging and result manipulation: from failure of ECP’s results transmission system to reversal of results in several constituencies. These alleged discrepancies created an atmosphere of distrust towards not only the ECP but also the election process and election itself. The editorial lamented that the tribunals had the ability to help “the system self-correct” but this has not happened. The process seems to have languished and the more it gets delayed, “the legitimacy of the coalition government will continue to remain in doubt.” This will “undermine” the government’s authority and “allow political instability to continue to fester.”

What are the poll petitions that Fafen is tracking? 
Under section 98 of the Elections Act, 2017, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is legally required to publish the names of returned candidates in the official gazette, including the names of all those who had contested. The number of votes obtained by each of them is also required to be published. Section 142 of the Act, empowers a losing candidate to file a petition within 45 days of the official notification of the names of winning candidates in the Gazette. Further, Section 148 ensures the timely disposition of these petitions- within 180 days from the filing of a particular petition. In August 2023, the parliament amended the act to increase this deadline from 120 to 180 days. It also suggested several measures to speed up the disposal of these petitions “by capping the maximum duration of stay orders issued by higher courts in such cases to six months.” Despite these efforts, the report lamented that the “ongoing operations of the tribunals, particularly in Punjab, do not reflect the spirit of the law.”

Who have filed the petitions? 
According to the report, results of around 36 per cent of all constituencies, including national and provincial have been challenged. This number is consistent with the numbers of General Elections 2013 and 2018 “when 385 and 300 election petitions were processed by tribunals” respectively. PTI-backed independent candidates have filed the most petitions- a total of 188 with 76 pertaining to NA constituencies and 112 for provincial assembly constituencies. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) affiliated candidates have filed 33 petitions, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians candidates (PPPP) have filed 26 petitions, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan candidates (JUIP) have  made 24 challenges, and Grand Democratic Alliance-affiliated candidates (GDA) have filed six challenges. National Party (NP), Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have made five challenges each. 23 losing candidates who are not affiliated with any party have also filed poll petitions.

How have the provinces performed in disposing of these petitions? 
Balochistan has performed the best among the provinces with 17 per cent disposal rate. Seven per cent of total petitions have been disposed of in Sindh, followed by four per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has not decided any petition so far. The worst performing province is Punjab with less than a half percent disposal rate. This can partly be attributed to the fact that the eight notified tribunals in Punjab have the highest caseload (157) averaging 20 petitions each. This number does not account for the 44 untraced petitions and their addition might further increase the number to 25. Additionally, six tribunals in Punjab have not even been notified yet due to “prolonged legal interpretational differences between the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Lahore High Court (LHC).”

Reference
“Troubled tribunals,” Dawn, 21 August 2024