The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), a regional network based organization of 21 civil society groups from across Asia, views with great concern intimidation of its member organization in Pakistan the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) and a need for timely and full transparency from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) during the post‐election period.
Of immediate concern is the ability of all Civil Society Organizations in Pakistan, including FAFEN, to operate freely and without the threat of violence and intimidation. Civil Society is crucial to democracy in Pakistan, as it is in all countries, and threats made against its members undermine the important work that groups such as FAFEN perform. Such threats, no matter their source, only serve to weaken the democratic system itself.
On matters specific to the post‐election period, full disclosure of all data related to election results as well as longer-term Electoral Reform should be the primary focus of the Election Commission of Pakistan as a means to lessen current and future election irregularities. By focusing on the important, outstanding issues made evident in the past election, the ECP can show the public in Pakistan and beyond that they are sincere about improving the electoral processes in Pakistan. On the other hand, if the ECP does not exercise its authority to make polling station data public and undertake real reform, they will surely fail to move the country’s election system forward. ANFREL believes that the right choice is clear; only through complete transparency and real reform can the ECP deliver the improvements that the people of Pakistan deserve.
ANFREL hopes that state authorities, political parties and media can choose a constructive path that allows CSOs to contribute to the transparency and […]