The election tribunals established by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have failed to redress post-election disputes within the legally-stipulated deadline.

A year after the 2013 elections, nearly 27% (109 out of 410) petitions are still awaiting decisions. Meanwhile, 73% (301 out of 410) cases have been decided by the tribunals and the ECP (276 out of 385 by tribunals and 25 by ECP).

The ECP constituted 14 tribunals across the country following the 2013 elections to redress election-related complaints of contesting candidates. The election results were officially notified on May 22, 2013, following which the candidates were given until July 6 (45 days) to submit their petitions. The ECP received a total of 409 petitions, while one petition was filed directly with the Lahore Tribunal.

It is, however, important to note that the ECPs data released on January 28, 2014 shows 407 petitions filed with the commission. One petition numbered and later on cancelled by the ECP, one forwarded to the Lahore Tribunal after numbering and another filed directly with the Lahore Tribunal are missing from the ECP’s data.

This update is based on the direct observation of tribunals’ proceedings till May 31, 2014 as part of FAFEN’s legal study being commissioned with the assistance of 18 trained lawyers.

According to FAFEN’s observation, a total of 276 out of 385 petitions have so far been decided or disposed of by the tribunals. Twenty-two petitions were accepted; 21 dismissed due to non-prosecution; 28 dismissed as withdrawn; 48 dismissed after complete trial whereas 122 were dismissed on technical grounds making the petitions not-maintainable. The reasons for dismissal of 35 petitions are not known to FAFEN due to non-availability of their copies of orders.

Of the 22 petitions accepted, seven were filed by independent candidates, while six were filed by PPPP members. Meanwhile, none of the petitions filed by PTI have so far been accepted by the tribunals. On the other hand, nine petitions accepted by the tribunals are against PML-N – the party with the highest number of seats in the National Assembly. Seven petitions cite independent candidates as respondents, while two cite returned candidates of PTI as defendants.

Region-wise, the tribunals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are far ahead of other provinces in the disposal of cases. As of May 31, 2014, the tribunals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa disposed of 88% (61 out of 69) of the cases referred by the ECP, followed by Balochistan (78%, or 47 out of 60), Sindh (77%, or 70 out of 91), and Punjab (59%, or 98 out of 165).

However, the current pace at which the tribunals are operating has delayed the decisions of 109 petitions. Meanwhile, FAFEN observers have recorded 2,329 adjournments of over seven days in the tribunals, in violation of election laws and ECP’s directions which urge the tribunals to hear the petitions on a day-to-day basis and do not allow an adjournment of more than seven days[1].

It is, however, important to note that 20 petitions are pending due to stay orders issued by high courts, whereas seven are awaiting verification reports from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

The ECP received a total of 409 petitions, out of which 25 were dismissed by the ECP itself during scrutiny. FAFEN’s data suggests that the ECP referred 384 petitions to the tribunals. One petition was filed directly with the tribunal in Lahore, bypassing the legal mechanism which resulted in its dismissal at the initial stage. Most of the referred petitions were moved by contesting candidates, while three petitions were filed by voters.

Most of the petitions (99) were filed by independent candidates, followed by PML-N members who filed 66 petitions. PTI members filed 58 petitions, while PPPP member filed 50 petitions. PML-N – the party with the highest number of seats in the National Assembly – had the highest number of petitions filed against its winning candidates. According to FAFEN’s data, over one-third (138 or 35%) of the 385 petitions were filed against the party’s winning candidates. Meanwhile, PPPP’s returned candidates were nominated in 50 petitions.

The Lahore tribunal, being the busiest, received 56 petitions, of which three were later transferred to the Faisalabad tribunal. The Peshawar tribunal received 40 petitions, out of which seven were later transferred to the Abbottabad tribunal while four were transferred to the tribunal in Dera Ismail Khan. The Faisalabad tribunal received 39 petitions originally. However, three more petitions were handed over to the tribunal by way of transfer from the Lahore tribunal.

The tribunals are legally bound to decide a case within 120 days of its receipt. The ECP can accept petitions within 45 days of the gazette notification of returned candidates and can either dismiss or forward a petition to the respective tribunal at a time it may deem fit after initial scrutiny. The ECP started referring the petitions to the tribunals in June 2013. As there is no time limit for the ECP to forward or dismiss the petitions, some cases remain pending with the commission for more than 120 days. According to FAFEN’s data, the Lahore Tribunal received at least two petitions on January 29, 2014.

The petitions are moved on single or multiple grounds and seek single or multiple reliefs. A majority of the petitions challenged the nomination or qualification of returned candidates with the additional ground of use of corrupt practices to sway the elections. There were 38 petitions challenging the nomination process and another 91 challenging the qualification of returned candidates. More than half (212 or 55%) of the petitions, among other grounds, made allegations of corrupt practices employed by returned candidates, while almost three-fourth (277 or 72%) of the petitions accused other personnel, including election officials, of malpractice.

Petitioners in 248 cases sought declaration to the effect that the election of the winning candidate be declared void and the petitioner be declared returned candidate instead. Among other reliefs, 122 petitions sought disqualification of the returned candidates and re-polling in the constituency. Another 89 petitions sought recounting of ballots for the entire or parts of the constituencies, 43 demanded re-examination of excluded ballots while 57 sought re-polling at certain polling stations besides 70 petitions seeking other reliefs.

[1] It was specifically mentioned in the “HANDBOOK ON ELECTION TRIBUNAL PETITION PROCESS” published by the ECP in 2013: “In 2009, an amendment to ROPA was adopted stating that “no adjournment shall be granted to any party for more than seven days and that too on payment of costs as the Tribunal may determine”.

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