ISLAMABAD: The upcoming general elections will once again be held under the judiciary’s supervision. This news came after the High Courts provided the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the names of a 1000 district court judges who would act as Returning Officers (ROs) and District Returning Officers (DROs) in the elections.
ECP officials confirmed that the notification of these ROs and DROs would be issued on May 7.
The Commission revealed that it had received the names of 129 judges for their appointment as DROs, and 849 judges for their appointment as ROs.
In order to avoid controversies, the National Judicial Policy of 2009 had decided not to engage judges in the election process.
However, the Chief Election Commissioner had allowed judges to act as ROs and DROs in the 2013 elections on the demand of political parties.
But as was feared while formulating the 2009 National Judicial Policy, political parties that lost the 2013 elections, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, (PTI), blamed the judges for having rigged the elections.
The PTI later ran a campaign against the Chief Justice of Pakistan for rigging the elections.
Although the judicial commission established to investigate cases of rigging did not find any proof, the PTI and the PPP continued to label the 2013 elections as rigged.
Political parties and the ECP once again showed an interest in engaging judges as ROs and DROs in the upcoming elections. The judiciary, in turn, responded positively and offered the list of judges for appointment as ROs and DROs.
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