See in Urdu at http://www.slideshare.net/FATAparties/letter-to-ecp-nadra-2012-december-urdu-formatted-nb --- Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms: Standing United for a Brighter, Prosperous FATA (ANP, JI, JUI-F, MQM, NP, PkMAP, PML-N, PML, PPP and QWP) ---

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2013
Contact: Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms, fataparties@gmail.com
@FATAparties
http://facebook.com/FATAparties
POLITICAL PARTIES UNITED IN PUSH FOR FAIR ELECTIONS IN FATA
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — As political parties prepare to participate in elections in FATA for the
first time in history, the Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA reforms (FATA Committee)
highlights five key concerns that require urgent action by the Election Commission of Pakistan
(ECP) to ensure fair, transparent and accessible general elections in FATA.
The 10 political parties making up the FATA Committee recommend that the National Database
and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the ECP take swift measures in FATA to increase
Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) registration and voter registration. Historically
disenfranchised, FATA voters deserve increased efforts to facilitate their participation in the
upcoming general elections.
The FATA Committee also recommends that the ECP allow internally displaced persons (IDPs)
to cast votes from camps and host communities for candidates in their home constituency.
Political parties also urge government authorities to ensure that judicial officers from
neighboring settled districts serve as returning officers and district returning officers, just as is
planned for elections throughout Pakistan.
In line with other recommendations from political parties, the FATA Committee requests that the
ECP ensure polling stations are within two kilometers of voter homes as required by the
Supreme Court. The FATA Joint Committee recommends the ECP regularly meet with the
leadership of political parties in FATA to work together in addressing the numerous and complex
electoral challenges in FATA.
In a letter delivered today to the ECP and NADRA, the Political Parties Joint Committee on
FATA Reforms submitted the five consensus recommendations listed below for their immediate
consideration and action. The letter was also delivered to President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari,
Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Syed Masood Kausar, and the SAFRON Ministry secretary.
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2. 1. NADRA and the ECP should increase efforts to register FATA voters - A targeted
campaign should be launched immediately to provide FATA citizens with Computerized
National Identity Cards (CNIC) and to register them as voters with the ECP. The campaign
should place special emphasis on women throughout FATA and on internally displaced
persons (IDPs) living in camps inside FATA and in adjacent districts. By opening
additional offices, deploying mobile registration units, and expediting processes, the
issuing of CNICs for these groups should be improved significantly. The ECP and NADRA
should communicate deployment schedules of additional registration efforts directly with
political party leadership and also work together closely and as quickly as possible to
ensure that all those receiving new CNICs are also registered to vote.
2. ECP should allow absentee voting for FATA IDPs - More than 150,000 internally displaced
FATA citizens face voter disenfranchisement in upcoming general elections. International
law is clear about the voting rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and to ensure
equal access to democratic participation, all IDPs from FATA should be provided with the
opportunity to vote. Specifically, all citizens residing in camps should be permitted to cast
their vote for the candidate of their choice in their home constituency in FATA. For
example, an IDP originally from Bara in Khyber Agency but currently living in the Jalozai
IDP camp in Nowshera should be permitted to cast his vote in the NA-46 election from a
polling station inside the camp. Due to the security situation, many IDPs from FATA are
prohibited from returning home. These voters should be provided with an alternate
mechanism for voting in home constituency elections even while living currently in an IDP
camp elsewhere. At a minimum, absentee voting should be facilitated for FATA IDPs
living outside their normal constituencies in the following camps and host communities:
Togh Serai camp, New Durrani camp, Jalozai camp, D.I. Khan, Hangu, Kohat, Kurram,
Peshawar and Tank.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, Article 21), the International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, Article 25) and the United Nations
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (UNGPID) indicate that IDPs must be
provided the right and opportunity to vote in elections, whether or not they are living in
camps. Pakistan is a signatory to the UDHR and the ICCPR and therefore obligated to
protect the political and human rights of its citizens in FATA.
3. Judicial officers should serve as election officials in FATA - On November 17, 2012, the
National Judicial Policy Making Committee’s (NJPMC) decided to allow judicial officers
to serve as ECP returning officers and district returning officers in the upcoming general
elections. To ensure equitable election administration throughout Pakistan, this decision
should also apply to FATA. As there are no judicial officers in FATA, officers from
adjacent districts (Lower Dir, Malakand, Charsadda, Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Karak,
Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, and D.I. Khan) should be sent to FATA to serve as election
officials.
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3. 4. ECP should provide polling stations two kilometres from voters - As directed by the
Supreme Court of Pakistan in Constitutional Petition No. 87 of 2011 (order dated June 8,
2012), article 28, page 31, polling stations should not be “at a distance of more than two
kilometres from the place of residence of voters”. To ensure equal access for voters
throughout Pakistan, this decision should also apply to FATA.
5. ECP should engage directly with political party leaders in FATA - The FATA Committee
and agency-level political party leaders in FATA are open and available for direct
negotiations and problem-solving with the ECP regarding the implementation of the
recommendations above. FATA voices are typically excluded from national-level dialogue
with political parties and should be included in direct provincial-level outreach initiated by
the ECP. Additionally, close coordination between ECP officials and political party leaders
at the FATA agency level will allow the identification and mitigation of other local election
problems as they arise.
The Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms (FATA Committee) was established in
2010 to identify and advocate for areas of consensus on reform priorities, including amendments
to the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and the extension of the Political Parties Order to
FATA. The committee engages in discussions with stakeholders from FATA as a way to build
consensus, increase awareness and promote dialogue on existing and future reforms in the tribal
areas. With complete support from political party leadership, 10 political parties are represented
on the FATA Committee: Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-
Islam F (JUI-F), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), National Party (NP), Pashtoonkhwa Milli
Awami Party (PkMAP), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Muslim League
Quaid-e-Azam (PML), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP).
High resolution photographs of FATA Committee members and events: http://goo.gl/GNmxx
Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms
Member Information:
Awami National Party (ANP)
Latif Afridi, Vice President KP
Bushra Gohar, MNA, Central Vice President
Arbab Tahir, General Secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Nawabzada Mohsin Ali Khan, Deputy Secretary General Central
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)
Mohammad Ibrahim, Professor and Provincial Ameer
Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, Ameer FATA
Zarnoor Afridi, Naib Ameer FATA
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4. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F)
Mohammad Jalal ud din, Advocate, Former Ambassador
Abdul Jalil Jan, Information Secretary, KP
Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Deputy General Secretary KP
Abdur-Rashid, General Secretary Bajaur
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
Syed Asif Hasnain, MNA
Mohammad Rehan Hashmi, MNA
National Party (NP)
Dr. Malik Baloch, President
Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenju, Vice President
Mukhtar Bacha, Provincial President, KP
Idrees Kamal, Provincial General Secretary, KP
Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP)
Akram Shah Khan, Central Secretary General
Mukhtar Khan Yousafzai, Provincial President, KP
Raza Mohammad Raza, Information Secretary
Pakistan Muslim League (PML)
Ajmal Khan Wazir, Central Senior Vice President
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
Rehmat Salam Khattak, General Secretary, KP
Arsallah Khan Hoti, Spokesperson, KP
Nasir Kamal Marwat, Vice President
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Senator Farhatullah Babar, Spokeperson, President of Pakistan
Kiramat Ullah Chagharmati, Speaker, KP Assembly
Rahim Dad Khan, Senior Minister, KP
Senator Sardar Ali
Mirza M. Jihadi, Advisor SAFRON
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP)
Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, General Secretary
Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, MPA, President, KP
Asad Afridi, President, FATA
Usman Ali Khalil, Provincial Vice President
High resolution photographs of FATA Committee members and events: http://goo.gl/GNmxx
fataparties@gmail.com | @FATAparties | http://facebook.com/FATAparties
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