Following mail has been sent to the Election Commissioner. It is being shared here for public good & awareness.
Yasmeen Ali
Honourable Justice (Retd.) Mr. Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim
Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan
Your Honor,
As a concerned Pakistani citizen,also a lawyer by profession I feel, our ballot paper do not allow the masses to exercise the right to vote in its true spirit.We see the same ‘electable’ the same faces,the same names. Time has refused to weed out such elements . I therefore suggest, addition of another icon/slot to choose by voters.It should be:NONE OF THE ABOVE. A straight 50% of votes caste on NONE OF THE ABOVE option, should disqualify contestants from that particular constituency for 10 years, confiscate their security,parties must put up new candidates for the constituency,elections to be held on another date with new candidates.
I believe, employing this codicil will go a long way in choosing representatives, in the spirit of the Constitution.
Regards
Yasmeen Ali
Attorney-at-law
Lahore.
The writer is author of “A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan”.
Comments
I strongly agree with you. I am sure majority of people od Pakistan should demand the same from ECP.
great idea . . . specially 10 year ban . . . awesome
Yes this must be implemented so that those standing for elections just cannot take it for granted and the right candidate with clear and honest credentials are elected–or else the same old rut will further ruin the nation. Yasmeen I am indeed very happy that as a responsible and truly patriotic citizen you have taken up the issue with the highest authority and more people must also raise their voices on this very important and vital issue.
Great. I hope they read it.Such an exercise would probably require Parlimentary GoAhead; there are “Vested Interests”that would not allow it. I suggest an open letter to the print media- endorsed by all those who read and UNDERSTAND your write ups.
I am inclined to agree. . No vote wasted. In fact it will be something unique. Good.
great
what you say carries logic and promotes progression. that’s something no one is interested in!
Very good indeed Best Wishes Nasim
Yes I would fully support this proposal.
Kalim
Dear Yasmeen,
With Sallaams, I endorse your wise suggestion. Yours, K. I. Khan.
Offering Option in Ballot Paper:Election 2013
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/01/countries/pakistan/offering-option-in-ballot-paperelection-2013#comment-203632
I am bit skeptic of the success of this option.Do you really think that “None of the Above”wil get 50%vote.I think it will be rarest of rare while party field tainted candidate in large no.My suggestion All candidate chosen by party must be put to legal and judicial scrutiny so that their elimination is decided before they contest election.Otherwise “None of Above”wil only satisfy voters ego that they have done their duty while tainted candidate wil continue to be elected.
All scrutiny must be undertaken before elections.My suggestion by no means suggest it replaces the pre- scrutiny test. On the contrary, it adds another level to be crossed..
the option, none of the above, will clearly demonstrate the percentage of the people rejecting all the candidates , but do we have any example of such a ballot paper in any part of the world ?
None of the Above (NOTA), also known as “against all” or a “scratch” vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system. It is based on the principle that consent requires the ability to withhold consent in an election, just as they can by voting no on ballot questions.Entities that include “None of the Above” on ballots as standard procedure include Greece (λευκό, white, but unrelated to a political party of the similarly sounding name-however it is symbolic only), the U.S. state of Nevada (None of These Candidates), Ukraine (Проти всіх), Spain (voto en blanco), and Colombia (voto en blanco). Russia had such an option on its ballots (Против всех) until it was abolished in 2006. Bangladesh introduced this option (না ভোট) in 2008.
YAA
Let us first disqualify and punish the fake degree holders,dual national,tax evadors,MP,s without NTN,s,pre-poll rigging etc etc
With illetrate voters,N0NE of the above percentage should be 25percent
I appreciate your rethinking on the so called electable mafia.
Regards and my best wishes
Fahim
*** This Message Has Been Sent Using BlackBerry Internet Service from Mobilink ***
An excellent idea and very good sugession , I fully endorse it —— not only the candidate but in my opinion the party (to which they belong) should be banned for next ten years .
I TOTALLY AGREE. I have also been suggesting this at various fora and on TV. They just do not pick it up!
Best regards,
Shahida Jamil.
I fully endorse your views.Chief Election Comissioner can and should be persuaded to disqualify those parliamentarins who have been guilty of not submitting I TAX RETURNS as per the requirement of law. As per reports 70 percent existing plms did not submit Returns and as per section 62 andv 63 are not sadiq and ameen and should immediately be disqualified by the CEC. SIMILAR OTHER measures also need to b taken byb CEC to ensure that cheaters and looters do not again occupy the seats in Parliament. The porformance of parties in power need to be reviewed in comparision of thier manifestos and some kind of punitive action be taken for guilty of not fulfilling the clauses of Constitution which required them to deliver basic needs of the citizens which they have failed to deliver
If those who can take cognizance of the above do not do so then common men will stand against our democratic system and will follow those who think that inqelab is the only way forward for them. Rgds Badar
indeed a good steps towards bringing sanity.we are just tired of looking to these faces grk
Very good suggestion from Yasmeen to work on the concept. How about banning coalitions with small parties against ministries and reducing the number of ministers and advisors through budget ceilings.
Thought provoking!
*** This Message Has Been Sent Using BlackBerry Internet Service from Mobilink ***
Excellent suggestion. I hope it gets accepted.
I agree.How it can be accepted? Shall it be a petition to ECE or send emails by the people!
Write to papers supporting this idea plz.
MODERATOR
It is a good idea but a little too late! It can only win you acclaim but can
do practically nothing in this regard. As a lawyer you should know that
Election Commissioner does not legislate election laws but the NA does.
And as long as the corrupt PPP, MQM and ML (all factions) are in majority,
we can not even dream of such laws.
There is no benefit of throwing arrows in the air! Or is there?
Muhammad Javed Iqbal
Just kind reminder to all the optimists:
“Nothing will change. All you see now, with Mr. Tahir is a smoke screen. A “houdini act”. JFK wanted change, got assassinated, King Faisal wanted change, got assassinated, Bhutto wanted change, got assassinated. There is a precedence established to all the governing rulers of the world. If they do not follow the regime, the socio, political and economical reforms which outline a succession towards “ONE WORLD ORDER”, the result is a simple elimination from one’s “life”.
Hisham Khan
I’d must test with you here. Which is not one thing I often do! I take pleasure in reading a publish that can make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to remark!
It is not true that EC does not have power to change ballot contents. In fact, EC has a lot of power to do anything it deems feasible and worthwhile to do. NA’s job is to have and effective EC but then the buck stops there. Take a look: http://www.zemtv.com/2013/01/03/aapas-ki-baat-on-geo-news-what-will-the-army-do-on-14th-january-2nd-january-2012/
NOTA is a great idea. This will tell the voters they have to deliver—or else they have no place in peoples’ hearts—even if they win.
Irfan
Brilliant and timely.It will also effectively address the the concerns of the so-called Shaikhul Islam. Yasmeen! wonderful and thank you very much on behalf of the future generations of Pakistan.
Love this idea. If it happens, I’ll start casting my vote again. Voted only once in my life, and never after that as there was no one I wanted to vote for in my area. – NS
Fully Agree with you
you are quite right madam ; rather on each election the contesting political parties should be dutybound to give new candidate exept then the near kith n kins of the previous. in this way ,there would be more democracy within the political parties and this will encourage the dedicated worker rather then the hiers of few prominencies
The idea you put forth is novel. But what if “None of the above” turns up on more than 50% of the ballot papers even after several rounds? Should that constituency be left unrepresented and for how long? You see elections are all about representation.
Excellent suggestion.
I need to add one more point, candidates should be atleast graduate. we employ matriculate tea boys in offices but choose ducks to amend constitution.
your poit of view is very right but its the masses who must care abt their vote they dont vote any corrupt one
this is the great example to left out hte old and currept faces in every constituencey of pak
An excellent suggestion… but isn’t it a bit late.
Trackbacks
[...] The letter was originally published at her website. [...]
[...] option on the ballot paper which was raised by a Yasmeen Ali, a renowned lawyer and a teacher. “None of The Above” (NOTA) met with serious criticism, specially by political parties but was indeed a welcome gesture by many [...]