• Additional note explains SC verdict overturning de-seating of MNA Bazai
• Justice Shah says Article 63A does not empower ECP to determine facts
ISLAMABAD: Justice Ayesha A. Malik of the Supreme Court has emphasised that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is an independent body entrusted with the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections, as well as ensuring that the representatives chosen by the people uphold their mandate in government.
“The independence of ECP is a fundamental safeguard in a democratic system which maintains the integrity of the elections and ensures that the will of the people translates into their consent to be governed by the elected representatives,” Justice Malik observed on Monday in an additional note she authored to explain why the apex court had on Dec 12, 2024 set aside the Nov 21, 2024 de-seating of MNA Adil Khan Bazai by the ECP on alleged floor crossing.
A three-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and consisting of Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, had taken up a set of appeals filed by Adil Bazai against the ECP’s decision in response to a Nov 1, 2024 reference by the National Assembly Speaker in terms of Article 63A of the Constitution on defection from the PML-N parliamentary party.
The bench had also restored Adil Bazai’s membership of the National Assembly from NA-262 constituency as an independent member, not as a member of the PML-N parliamentary party.
The additional note stated that ensuring the will of the people to form government was what gives legitimacy to the government because it was based on the choice of the people. “This is what builds public confidence, protects the rule of law and protects people from political manipulation.”
The Supreme Court has always reminded the ECP that elections were the lifeline to democracy and the commission was the guarantor of electoral integrity. The independence of the ECP is, therefore, fundamental to the election process without which the very foundation of democracy is undermined, the note said.
It added that the apex court also recognised and declared that the ECP should not become subservient to political influences, or political engineering, rather remain an impartial custodian of democracy as any leaning of ECP in favour of the government would compromise the legitimacy of the political system.
“At the heart of protecting electoral integrity is the right to vote and the exercise of this right, by the people. The supremacy of the vote underscores the idea, that power and legitimacy in a democratic system derives its consent from the governed which is why an independent constitutional body is required to ensure that the will of the people by way of election is actualised.
