EC says do not wish to undermine any party's role in elections
The election concern is also that if laws are amended in the run-up to the elections, it will create a bad image among the general public.
By
Ahmed Naif
The Elections Commission (EC) on Tuesday told the parliament that it does not want to bring amendments to election related laws that could be perceived as undermining anyone's role in the elections.
Commission chair Fuad Thaufeeq said that the commission wants to hold the elections as openly as possible and that the commission has no intention of covering up any aspect of the elections.
Noting that the biggest problem is due to amendments to the law targeting journalists, Fuad said:
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EC has no plans to curtail the role of media to any extent
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It is important that the media is the first to bring the election results
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That's how people can be told that the election results are not made by the EC
"I spoke to three members of the Commission yesterday and all of us members said that we do not want to do so if any of these clauses appear to be hurting anyone under any circumstances. Our vision is to expand," Fuad said.
"There is no point in trying to pass this amendment if the parliament sees that the reporters are hindered. We will respectfully accept what the honourable members decide."
He told the committee on Tuesday that the amendments to the Elections (General) Act were proposed two years ago. Fuad said he had taken up the matter with the Attorney General's office at the time and asked the office to submit amendments before the elections were this close.
The commission's concern is also that if laws are amended in the run-up to the elections, it will create a bad image among the general public.
'Journalists aren't trained, they're informed'
"As far as the media is concerned, the election commission only wanted to expand the definition of reporters and give space to photo and video journalists working in the media as the law says only reporters can be allowed to monitor the elections," EC vice-president Ismail Habeeb said.
Habeeb said the amendments proposed by the Attorney General's Office to be included in the act are already followed when monitoring passes are issued to journalists. Pointing out that the Election Commission does not train journalists, Habeeb said said that a training programme was mentioned in regard to the commission’s plan to hold sessions to inform them about how journalists should behave while monitoring elections.
"We're not going to train CNN or BBC journalists under any circumstances. We are trying to give information on how to act at the polling stations. It can be called any name," Habeeb said.
Didn't propose systemic changes: AG
At the committee meeting, Attorney General's Office attorney Aisha Naeem said there was no proposal to have major systemic changes in the election law. Aisha said the AG's office wants the amendments to be passed. He said the AG's office has also proposed an amendment to the law to expand the way journalists are interpreted.
"It doesn't include things that will bring about major changes in the system. Then we reviewed the amendments requested by the EC and they too approved it," Aisha said.
He said that the first amendment received from the EC regarding holding by-elections to local bodies was received in January. Aisha also said that the amendments proposed by the previous government were forwarded by the EC in April. She said talks for December 2021 were held but the amendment came much later.
"In a meeting with the EC in November, we did inform that such amendments will be introduced in January. The amendments were proposed with EC’s approval," Aisha said.
