The Election Commission Pakistan
of Pakistan Factsheet
Introduction
Election management bodies are generally divided into three categories: those that are completely
independent from the government, those that are completely under government control, and those
that are semi-autonomous. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) falls in the first category.
While it is independent from the Government in its decision-making in control of its finances,
Election Commission members are selected by a parliamentary committee and appointed by the
President. Also, changes in election rules are sent to the President for approval.
Terminology
In Pakistan, the Election Commission is the constitutional entity, made up of one Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) and four Election Commission Members1, that has the authority and
responsibility of conducting elections. The ECP is the organization responsible to assist the Election
Commission in implementing its policies and decisions. The ECP has offices throughout the country at
the federal, provincial, divisional and district levels. While the Election Commission is headed by the
CEC, the executive side of the ECP is headed by the Secretary of the ECP.
Mandate of the Election Commission
The Constitution of Pakistan charges the Election Commission with organizing and conducting
elections in an honest, just and fair manner, in accordance with the law. The Commission is required
to take steps to guard against corrupt practices in the electoral process.2 The Election Commission’s
specific responsibilities include the following:
Preparing electoral rolls for National Assembly, Provincial Assembly and local government
elections and revising them annually;
Delimitation of constituencies;
Organizing and holding general elections to the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and
the local government bodies.3
Organizing and conducting elections to the Senate and by-elections to fill vacancies in the
National and Provincial Assemblies and the Senate;
Appointing Election Tribunals; and
Holding election to the office of the President.
Terms and qualifications for the Election Commission
The CEC and the Members of the Election Commission are appointed for five-year terms and cannot
be removed, except through the Supreme Judicial Council; the same procedure used to remove
Judges of the Superior Courts.4
A person may be appointed as Chief Election Commissioner if he or she is (or has been) a Judge of
the Supreme Court or a Judge of a High Court and is qualified to be appointed as a Supreme Court
1
The Election Commission Order, 2002.
2
Constitution of Pakistan, Article 218.
3
Ibid. Article 219.
4
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Articles 209 & 215.
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Judge. To be a Member of the Election Commission, a person must be a former Judge of a High
Court. There are four High Courts in Pakistan – one in each of the four provinces.
Appointment process
Previously, the CEC and the Members were appointed at the sole discretion of the President. After
the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the Members and the CEC are now selected through a
consultative process between the government and opposition and approved by the President.
The Parliamentary Committee is constituted by the Speaker of the Assembly, and consists of 12
Members of Parliament, half of whom are nominated by the government and half by the opposition.
Nominees are recommended by the parliamentary leaders of the political parties. At least four of
the members of the committee must be from the Senate; if the National Assembly has been
dissolved; all members of the committee will come from the Senate.
When there is a vacancy, the Prime Minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in the
National Assembly, forwards three names to a Parliamentary Committee for hearings and
confirmation. If the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition do not agree on the list of three
proposed names, each of them will send a separate list of names to the Parliamentary Committee for
consideration.5
The Parliamentary Committee makes its selection by a simple majority vote and forwards the name
of the agreed upon candidate to the President for appointment.
If at any time the office of the CEC is vacant or he is absent or unable to perform his functions for any
reason, the Chief Justice of Pakistan nominates one of the Judges of the Supreme Court to act as an
acting CEC until the appointment process is complete or the regular CEC returns. 6
The present Election Commission
The current members of the election commission are:
Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza
Member, Punjab Mr. Justice (Retd) Riaz Kiyani
Member, Sindh Mr. Justice (Retd) Muhammad Roshan Essani
Member, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mr. Justice (Retd) Shahazad Akbar Khan
Member, Balochistan Mr. Justice (Retd) Fazal-ur-Rehman
5
Ibid Article 213.
6
Ibid Article 217
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ECP organizational structure
The Election Commission is the five-person team within the ECP that has the legal and
constitutional powers to conduct elections. They also have the authority to appoint persons to
positions in the ECP and to run the organization.
The Election Commission offices are at the ECP Secretariat.
T Election Commission
Financial and administrative autonomy
Financial and administrative autonomy is an important strategic issue for election management
bodies and largely determines their degree of independence from the Government. As a
constitutionally independent body, the ECP receives its required operational funding from the annual
federal budget through the Ministry of Finance. Apart from its regular expenses, the ECP also has a
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supplementary budget for electoral activities and special projects, including conduct of elections,
preparation/revision of electoral rolls, IT infrastructure etc. The ECP can re-appropriate its allotted
funds as it sees fit. The current financial autonomy that the ECP enjoys is based on an Office
Memorandum of the Finance Division, but no concrete legislation is in place.
The Election Commission has the power to upgrade or re-designate any post and promote its staff.
However, it does not have the power to create new or abolish existing posts as its needs change.
New posts are created by the Finance Division and sometimes require the approval of the Prime
Minister. The ECP establish a committee under the chairmanship of the CEC comprised of
representatives of the Finance, Establishment and other divisions to recommend the creation of new
ECP posts. Their recommendations are then approved by the government.
Five-Year Strategic Plan
In 2010, the ECP released its first Five-Year Strategic Plan 2010-2014. The plan was developed by the
ECP based on consultations with voters, political parties, civil society and international stakeholders
working under the umbrella of the Election Support Group.
The ECP’s strategic plan consists of 15 goals that cover various aspects of electoral operations and
procedures, legal reform, stakeholder outreach, and internal organizational reform and capacity
building. According to IFES’ assessment, by December 2012, three years into the five year
implementation period, the ECP had achieved approximately 80% of their strategic plan.
Gender diversity
There is a striking gender imbalance within the ECP; however, it has committed itself to addressing
the imbalance as part of its Strategic Plan. Objective seven of Strategic Goal #7 aims to increase the
representation of eligible women within the ECP to at least 10%. In the months leading up to the 11
May 2013 general elections, the ECP has recruited 31 new female employees at various levels,
bringing the total number of female staff to 42. Despite this progress, women still account for only
1.8 percent of the ECP’s 2,228 employees, and there are no women in senior management positions.
IFES’ Supporting Electoral Reforms in Pakistan (SERP) project is funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade
and Development, The European Union and UK aid through the UK Government. Contents of this document are the sole
responsibility of IFES.
For more information, visit www.IFES.org or write us at [email protected].
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