ECP Code Violations Continued through End of Campaign Period
ISLAMABAD, April 29, 2013: About three-fifths (447, or 59.8%) of the 747 complaints received by 197 Returning Officers (ROs), 39 District Returning Officers (DROs) and as many District Election Commissioners (DECs) between April 16 and 22, 2013, have been resolved successfully, while around 300 complaints (40.2%) were yet to be addressed during the observed period, says FAFEN’s Pre-Election Update 36 released on Monday.
The data was gathered by Free and Fair Election Network’s District and Constituency Long-Term Observers (DLTOs and CLTOs) across the country during the third week of the ongoing month.
Returning Officers in 197 constituencies reported receiving 477 complaints during the observation period, or 2.4 complaints per constituency on average. ROs resolved three-fifths of these complaints (283, or 59.3%), while 194 (40.7%) were still pending at the time data was gathered.
A total of 121 ROs in Punjab reported receiving 218 complaints (1.8 per constituency), while 28 ROs in KP received 158 complaints (5.6 per constituency), followed by 27 ROs in Sindh with 89 complaints (3.3 per constituency) and 11 in FATA with 12 complaints (1.1 per constituency). Ten ROs in Balochistan received no complaints. The ROs in Punjab had the lowest ratio of resolved complaints, with half still pending (108 out of 218, 49.5%).
Another 147 complaints were received by DROs during the period in 39 districts. Of these 147 complaints, 85 (57.8%) were received by 17 DROs in KP (5 per district, on average), followed by 61 in 18 Punjab districts (3.4 each) and one complaint in one FATA agency, with four agency DROs reporting no complaints.
Less than half (65 out of 147, or 44.2%) of the complaints filed with DROs were reportedly resolved, while the remaining complaints (82, or 55.8%) were still pending. DROs in KP were unable to address most of the complaints they received, with 73 out of 85 still pending (88.9%).
DECs in 39 reporting districts received 123 complaints between April 16 and 22, 2013. Of these, 13 DECs in Punjab received 62 complaints (50.4%; 4.8 per district); 12 DECs in KP received 47 complaints (38.2%; 3.9 per district) and seven DECs in FATA received 14 complaints (11.4%; 2 per Agency).
More than four-fifths (99, or 80.5%) of the 123 complaints registered with DECs were resolved, while the remaining one-fifths (24, or 19.6%) were still pending. DECs in Punjab resolved the highest percentage of complaints (52 out of 62, or 83.9%), with 10 remaining (16.1%).
FAFEN offers the following recommendations about election complaint handling:
- ECP mechanisms for receiving and addressing both pre-election complaints and post-election disputes should be made as clear and accessible as possible.
- All DECs, DROs and ROs should share as much information as possible with election stakeholders about complaints and the process and status of complaint resolution.
For complete report, click here
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