Only four cases were decided by the election tribunals in December 2014 whereas a petition decided earlier has been remanded back by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. So far 358 out of 411 post-election disputes (332 out of 385 by tribunals and 26 by ECP) have been decided, while another 53 are still pending with the tribunals.
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Low participation and attendance of legislators, debate on the deadly terrorist attack in Peshawar and the passage of the 21st Constitution Amendment marked the 109th session of Senate that ended on Tuesday. More than one-third of the legislators did not participate in the House proceedings. These included 15 legislators belonging to the PPPP, followed by ANP (five), PML-N (four), BNP-A (three), JUI-F (two) and one each from MQM and PML in addition to eight independent members.
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Free and Fair Election Network’s (FAFEN’s) election observation was divided in three logical phases; pre-election, Election Day and post-election. This report is based on post-election observation conducted by FAFEN observers in 124 districts across the country. Lehri and Sohbatpur in Balochistan and Korangi in Sindh were not treated as separate districts in this report as they were granted the status of district after 2013 General Elections while National Assembly constituencies in Muzaffargarh, Kohlu and Khyber Agency were not observed.
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Only seven cases were decided by the election tribunals in November 2014 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 355 out of 4111(329 out of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself). On the other hand, 56 petitions are still awaiting decisions. Of the 355 cases, 154 (128 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies, implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Thirty-nine petitions have been accepted; 23 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 29 dismissed as withdrawn and 95 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of 15 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders despite continuous efforts to obtain them.
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The election tribunals decided six cases in October 2014 bringing the total number of decided cases to 348 out of 411 (322 of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) while 63 petitions are pending. Of the decided 348 cases, 153 (127 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Thirty-eight (38) petitions have been accepted, 23 dismissed due to non-prosecution, 29 dismissed as withdrawn and 89 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of 16 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to unavailability of copies of orders despite continuous efforts to obtain them.
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ISLAMABAD, October 31, 2014: The Senate witnessed introduction of two ordinances aimed to facilitate the conduct of local government elections, six walkouts and absence of the Prime Minister during the 108th session, says the Free and Fair Election Network in its preliminary report based on direct observation. Three legislations − a private member’s bill and two ordinances − appeared on the session’s agenda. Both ordinances − the Electoral Rolls (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 and the Delimitation of Constituencies (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 − were introduced in the House while a private member’s bill seeking to revise powers, immunities and privileges of parliamentarians was withdrawn by the mover.
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ISLAMABAD, October 29, 2014: The Punjab Assembly passed seven bills, adopted nine resolutions and took up four Calling Attention Notices (CANs) as low attendance and lack of interest by members marred its 10th session, says the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its preliminary report based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly. On average, the session witnessed low attendance as 40 members (11% of the total members of 367) were present at the outset and 47 (13%) at the adjournment of each sitting.
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Ten cases were decided by the election tribunals during the month of September 2014 – bringing the total number of decided cases to 342 out of 4111 (316 out of 385 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself). As many as 69 petitions are still awaiting decisions by the tribunals. Of the 342 cases, 153 (127 by the tribunals and 26 by the ECP itself) have been dismissed on grounds of technical deficiencies, implying that the merits of the petitions were not adjudicated on. Thirty-four petitions have been accepted; 22 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 29 dismissed as withdrawn and 74 dismissed after complete trial. The reasons for dismissal of 30 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders despite continuous efforts to obtain them.
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For the first time in Pakistan’s electoral history, political parties are discussing the possibility and modus operandi of investigating the quality of General Elections 2013 with the purpose of determining whether they were “rigged”. Election audits are very rare, and such an investigation is a complex and technical task. Therefore, it is understandable that there have been delays in finalizing the scale and scope of the probe so that it is mutually agreeable to the political parties on both sides of the deadlock. There is no standard methodology or procedure to investigate an election.
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The third Joint Session of the Parliament was called on September 2, 2014 to discuss the current political situation in wake of Islamabad dharnas by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the alleged rigging in General Elections 2013 and by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) against the killing of its workers in Model Town Lahore. Under pressure by protests and amid potential risks to the stability of the system, the session was convened at the joint request of treasury and opposition parties with the purpose of demonstrating of political unity for the continuity of the democratic system.
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