THE legal controversies surrounding the elections refuse to abate.

Another row has

broken out over who has the lawful authority to summon the first sitting of the
newly elected National Assembly.

President Arif Alvi has refused to exercise the prerogative till all reserved seats
have been assigned, but NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has called a session on
Thursday anyway to satisfy the constitutional deadline. It is unclear, however,
whether the latter has any authority to do so, which may throw the legality and
legitimacy of Thursday’s proceedings into question and trigger another court
battle.

It appears that this fresh controversy could have been avoided had the ECP by now
decided whether the Sunni Ittehad Council, which the majority of PTI-backed
independents have joined, deserves its quota of reserved seats or not. The ECP was
supposed to decide the matter in an open hearing yesterday but adjourned the
proceedings again, leaving the matter hanging.

The issue at hand is not a unique case, and several past precedents have been cited
that seem to support the SICs claim to its share of reserved seats for women and
minorities. In any case, the power to decide the matter rests with the ECP. Why,
then, is it allowing the controversy to linger?

From its complicity in the failure to hold timely elections for the KP and Punjab
assemblies to its role in delaying the general elections over a controversy-ridden
census, from its failure to ensure a free, fair and inclusive environment for
electioneering to its flouting of myriad rules and laws governing the electoral
process on election day and thereafter — the charge-sheet against the ECP has not
stopped growing.

Have the countrys laws not been trampled upon enough? Does the foundation of the
16th National Assembly also need to be laid on a violation of constitutional
process?

There were immense expectations attached to the democratic process over the past
year, with millions hoping it would provide them a pathway to deliverance from the
many crises afflicting the country. Instead, the nation witnessed once again how
casually constitutional schematics can be subverted when the powerful decide to rob
the public of its voice.

Meanwhile, the institution created and empowered to safeguard the countrys

democratic framework either stood by and watched it be mutilated or became
complicit in its weakening through its own disdain for the law. It must be asked:
is there somewhere that the ECP and its backers intend to draw a line?

The majority of Pakistans population is young and impressionable. What they have
seen over the past year cannot engender any hopes for a just and progressive
society. Lasting damage has already been caused by the actions of a few. How long
will they continue to be tolerated?THE legal controversies surrounding the
elections refuse to abate. Another row has broken out over who has the lawful
authority to summon the first sitting of the newly elected National Assembly.

President Arif Alvi has refused to exercise the prerogative till all reserved seats
have been assigned, but NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has called a session on
Thursday anyway to satisfy the constitutional deadline. It is unclear, however,
whether the latter has any authority to do so, which may throw the legality and
legitimacy of Thursday’s proceedings into question and trigger another court
battle.

It appears that this fresh controversy could have been avoided had the ECP by now
decided whether the Sunni Ittehad Council, which the majority of PTI-backed
independents have joined, deserves its quota of reserved seats or not. The ECP was
supposed to decide the matter in an open hearing yesterday but adjourned the
proceedings again, leaving the matter hanging.

The issue at hand is not a unique case, and several past precedents have been cited
that seem to support the SICs claim to its share of reserved seats for women and
minorities. In any case, the power to decide the matter rests with the ECP. Why,
then, is it allowing the controversy to linger?

From its complicity in the failure to hold timely elections for the KP and Punjab
assemblies to its role in delaying the general elections over a controversy-ridden
census, from its failure to ensure a free, fair and inclusive environment for
electioneering to its flouting of myriad rules and laws governing the electoral
process on election day and thereafter — the charge-sheet against the ECP has not
stopped growing.

Have the countrys laws not been trampled upon enough? Does the foundation of the
16th National Assembly also need to be laid on a violation of constitutional
process?

There were immense expectations attached to the democratic process over the past
year, with millions hoping it would provide them a pathway to deliverance from the
many crises afflicting the country. Instead, the nation witnessed once again how
casually constitutional schematics can be subverted when the powerful decide to rob
the public of its voice.

Meanwhile, the institution created and empowered to safeguard the countrys

democratic framework either stood by and watched it be mutilated or became
complicit in its weakening through its own disdain for the law. It must be asked:
is there somewhere that the ECP and its backers intend to draw a line?

The majority of Pakistans population is young and impressionable. What they have
seen over the past year cannot engender any hopes for a just and progressive
society. Lasting damage has already been caused by the actions of a few. How long
will they continue to be tolerated?