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National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 9 of 60
Objectives of the Workshop
Mr. Ishtiak Ahmad Khan, Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan.
Thank you sir. I will briefly touch upon the objectives of this workshop, and it is indeed a great privilege for me to welcome once again this august gathering of politicians, electoral experts, civil society representatives and national and international electoral stake holders.
Ladies and Gentlemen. As has been observed by the Honorable Chief Election Commissioner, the ECP has been making efforts over the past year to bring about reforms in many areas, which have been part of our national public discourse. As we are meeting after quite an interval, it would be appropriate that before we move on to the subject of political finance, I share with you the progress that has been made in these various important areas. You have been attending these workshops, we have been receiving your valuable comments, and I would like to brief you for a few minutes on these areas, before moving on to political finance.
As you are well aware a sense of direction has been given to the Election Commission of Pakistan through the Strategic Plan 2010-2014. It contains 15 goals and 129 objectives, that we plan to achieve over the next four to five years. I am happy to report that satisfactory progress is being made in all these areas with the given resources in terms of human manpower and finances.
Another important area that has been debated by the media, civil society and political parties is collaboration between the Election Commission of Pakistan and NADRA for the purpose of preparing computerized electoral rolls. As you are well aware, various efforts have been made in the past to computerize electoral rolls, but without much success. Thus, NADRA and Election Commission of Pakistan have embarked upon this joint venture and are currently working on a pilot project, in four districts of Pakistan (one district in each province). This pilot project is nearing completion shortly.
After this project has been completed then we would also like to share the findings and outcomes of this pilot project once again with you. After that we plan to expand this exercise throughout all of Pakistan, with the purpose of having updated, accurate, computerized electoral rolls in about six months. These six months would start from the date that a piece of legislation, which is pending in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, is sent to the Parliament and passed. The fundamental hitch is that we have to pass a law under which CNIC would be mandatory for registration as well as casting of vote. The Government has promised us that this would be done in November 2011. Once this is done, we will launch this exercise throughout all of Pakistan and complete this exercise of having computerized electoral rolls for all the voters in about six months.
C society and political parties recommended introduction of Electronic Voting Machines. A study has been completed and a roadmap has been identified, containing various stages as to how we are going to be ready to introduce electronic voting machines before the next general elections in 2013. We also plan to send a delegation to India and examine their system, and hopefully this system would be introduced in about two years.
Unification of electoral laws is another very important area and considerable progress has also been made in this regard.
Although English is our official language, it is desirable to have all these laws translated into Urdu, so that all our officials at the lower level would be able to go through and understand them. As I understand a first draft has been prepared by the efforts of IFES.
Page 10 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
The Election Commission of Pakistan is keen on designing a comprehensive booklet containing nomination forms for the National/Provincial Assembly elections with all the relevant information. When we hold meetings with political parties, we will also share this format with you to seek your views on that.
As you know legal reform is an ongoing process and we have already sent some proposals to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. In the wake of the 18th Amendment, we are also taking a fresh look at the Constitution as well, as to whether there will be any difficulties faced by the Election Commission of Pakistan. If so, we might also suggest some consequential changes in various laws in the wake of the 18th Amendment and various reforms to be introduced in the various electoral laws, about a dozen of them.
All this work is in progress, we had a meeting with the Standing Committee of the National Assembly just a week back and we promised that we would be submitting a fresh draft to them in December 2010.
There has been a constant demand from the media, civil society and political parties that no holder of public office, including the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, Federal Ministers and Ministers should visit the constituencies so as to insure free and fair elections, and an environment conducive for this objective. We are very happy to share with you that all provincial and federal governments have agreed to this. The Honorable Chief Election Commissioner has issued a directive that the Federal Government and the Provincial Governments are supporting us, and during recent elections I one of the constituencies in Karachi, no holder of public office visited. This is going to bring about a very pleasant change in our electoral processes and environment.
Finally, there was a constant demand that after announcement of election schedule no one should announce or inaugurate any development scheme. Directives were issued in the past as well, but without much success because there was no mechanism for its enforcement. Now the Chief Election Commissioner has issued a directive that if any violation takes place, with regards to these directives then contempt of court proceedings would be initiated and this would produce the desired results.
These are just a few things that we have been doing. In this workshop we are going to discuss another very vital subject of political finance which has been ignored. I think this is the first workshop of its kind on the subject involving all the political parties, civil society, and I hope it would lead to some concrete proposals and recommendations.
The workshop that we are opening today is one of the examples of how we would like to work together with you as representatives of the political parties, civil society and media on collectively reforming and improving our electoral processes.
Political finance is one of the topics we have touched upon in our strategic plan. It is a subject that is not particularly well developed in our society. Money is required in politics, and as in any other sphere of activity it can be used for good or bad. When it is the latter it undermines the process. Thus, measures must be made to regulate money in the political sphere. If the political system does not regulate money, then one may expect money to regulate the system and that we want to avoid.
Ladies and Gentlemen. Our objective with this workshop is to exchange experiences, ideas and opinions with a view to reach a broad consensus on a path towards viable electoral reform. It is our hope that by the end of this workshop we will be able to establish one or more working groups that will undertake to conduct further studies and come up with concrete proposals for reform along the lines of what we agree upon here in this two-day workshop.
Page 12 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
International Standards and Best Practices
Dr. Marcin Walecki, IFES. Adaptation from PowerPoint presentation.
”What needs to be said, and which in any case everyone knows, is that the greater part of political funding is irregular or illegal”
Bettino Craxi, Former Italian Prime Minister
Key Understandings
The financing of political life is a necessity – and a problem
Democracy needs to control money or money will control democracy!
In the long run improper and illegal funds contribute to de-legitimize parties in particular and undermine democratic system in general
A strong democracy requires healthy political life. Political parties need healthy funding to fulfill their core functions, both during and between election periods. Funding of political parties through private contributions is a form of political participation
The regulation of political finance is essential to guarantee politicians independence from undue influence and to ensure the principle of equal opportunity
Why Regulate Money in Politics?
Effective Regulatory Framework & Sequence of Reforms
- Full Disclosure (systematic and detailed reporting, public access to records and publicity)
- Strong and independent enforcement supported by effective and proportional sanctions
- Controlling donations (ban on anonymous donations and contribution limits, regulating loans, assets disclosure)
- Transparent, meaningful, and fair Public Funding System
- Controlling costs of elections (Spending Limits)
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 13 of 60
Regulations - Global View
Political Finance Disclosure
Disclosure is based on comprehensive and regular exposure of the financial details (parties, candidates, MPs)
Who gives, how much, to whom, and for what, and when?
Timing of disclosure and access to information (newspapers, web sites)
Promoted by the UN Convention Against Corruption Art. 7 (3):
―Each State Party shall also consider taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures to enhance transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and, where applicable the funding of political parties.‖
Challenge
While disclosure is an important element of a fair democratic process, its significance is reduced in the absence of effective audit and enforcement mechanisms
Effective Control of Political Finance
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 15 of 60
Indirect State Funding , i.e. any law-enacted subvention delivered in kind to political actors, such as access to state-owned broadcasters, public buildings or publicly printed material; tax incentives for private political contributors, parties or candidates,
Specific political subsidies , for example cash grants earmarked for party-related or party-controlled organizations such as parliamentary caucuses, ancillary groups (women‘s and youth, mainly), newspapers, and research institutes
Public Funding – International Standards
Organization Recommendation
World Bank Consider public funding. Public funding reduces the scope for private interests to ―buy influence‖ and can also help reinforce limits on spending because the electorate is resistant to excessive public expenditure
The Carter Center/OAS
Mixed funding systems with a substantial public component are recommended. Public funds should be provided as a substitute for or a complement to private donations at all phases of the political and electoral process. Public funding for ongoing party activities and campaigns should be allocated by a mix of proportional rules and flat subsidies to all parties that meet reasonable thresholds.
Council of Europe
The state should provide support to political parties. State support should be limited to reasonable contributions. State support may be financial. Objective, fair and reasonable criteria should be applied regarding the distribution of state support. States should ensure that any support from the state and/or citizens does not interfere with the independence of political parties
Spending Limits
Best Practice
Free choice of voters can be undermined and the democratic process distorted by the disproportionate expenditure
Conflict between two fundamental principles of modern democracy – political equality and political liberty
Spending Limits once introduced should be realistic to ensure that all parties are able to run an effective campaign, recognizing the high expense of modern electoral campaigns
Imposing low and strict spending limits might marginalize opposition
Limits should be designed against inflation. Limits should be based on a form of indexation rather than absolute amounts
International Standards
UN General Comment No. 25
Reasonable limitations on campaign expenditure may be justified where this is necessary to ensure that the free choice of voters is not undermined or the democratic process distorted by the disproportionate expenditure on behalf of any candidate or party
Inter-American Democratic Charter Article 5
The strengthening of political parties and other political organizations is a priority for democracy. Special attention will be paid to the problems associated with the high cost of election campaigns and the establishment of a balanced and transparent system for their financing
Page 16 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
SADC Parliamentary Forum Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC Region
The funding of election campaigns is an area where the misuse of public funds is common and the playing field is not even. Experience in most countries is that the ruling party is well resourced (financially and assets wise) while opposition parties are poorly funded. Ceilings on political expenditure are either not there or ignored by all. The rich engage in lavish expenditure to win votes. The Electoral Commission should therefore be legally empowered to prohibit certain types of expenditures
Council of Europe Rec (2003)
States should consider adopting measures to prevent excessive funding needs of political parties, such as, establishing limits on expenditure on electoral campaigns
Key Findings
Money is never an unproblematic part of political system but is necessary for democratic politics
Regulation is desirable and it must not curb healthy competition
Right sequencing is the key Public Control First – Public Funding Second
Too many rules, too little enforcement – focus on disclosure and effective control
Effective oversight depends on cooperation and interactions of several stakeholders
Questions, Answers and Comments
Q: Pakistan has ridiculously low spending limits, which invite corruption at the inception of the electoral process. Why is the ECP still working with them? A: The ECP recognizes that these spending limits are not realistic. It wants clear recommendations from political parties as to what the spending limits should be, so that these can be incorporated in the legislation. (Secretary ECP)
Q: How effective is the notion of taxpayer money being spent on public funding if there is still a culture of underhand donations? How do you deal with scandals that emerge as a result of this? A: There will always be scandals (for e.g. in Canada and Scandinavia). An effective system needs to be in place that can quickly respond to the scandal by recognizing the problem and fixing it. The issue of public control is important. Which body will conduct this, and how effective will it be? Just putting money into the system will not fix the problem. Mexico and Latvia started by building a public control agency. The respective EMBs received financial reports, verified them and ensured public access to them. Politics in Pakistan needs public funding. It is not a private business, but a public service. However, voters need to be protected from political parties being accountable to narrow interests. (Dr. Marcin Walecki) What sort of regulatory authority do we need, and what form should it be in? Which individuals would comprise this body (audit, finance, etc)? We currently have no system. (Secretary ECP)
C: The need of funding for political parties lies at the heart of the voting process. In Pakistan polling stations are far apart and it is cumbersome to vote. The electoral process should be facilitated and the issue of transparency addressed.
Page 18 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
The History of Political Finance in Pakistan
Qazi Saleem Akhtar, IFES. Adaptation from PowerPoint presentation.
Election Commission
1956 Constitution. Chief Election Commissioner and such number of Members as may be determined by the President.
Term of office of CEC – 5 years with upper age limit of 65 years. First CEC took over on June 25, 1956.
1962 Constitution. CEC to be appointed for three years.
Two members, one each from West & East Pakistan.
1973 Constitution. CEC and two Members who were to be Judges of High Courts.
CEC to be appointed by the President for three years.
Number of Members raised to four in 2002
18 th^ Amendment in the Constitution – CEC‘s term to be five years
Four Members to be former Judges of High Courts
Political Finance
Transparency and Accountability marked in Italics in the following
Disclosure
Candidates:
- Assets and Liabilities
- Election Expenditure
Political Parties:
Statements of accounts
Disclosure, Candidates
1993: Ordinance No XVI of 1993—returned candidates to file statements of assets and liabilities within seven days of polls– no notification in case of failure to do so.
1993: Nomination paper to contain declaration about outstanding loan of 1 million or more,
1995: All candidates to file statements along with nomination papers—yearly statements of assets & liabilities to be submitted by members within one month from close of financial year.
2002 —section 12 of ROPA, 1976 amended – every candidate to file nomination paper containing:
- Statement of assets & liabilities of his own, those of his spouse & dependants
- No loan of two million rupees or more is outstanding for more than one year
- Criminal cases pending against the candidate six months prior to filing of nomination
- Educational qualifications
- Income tax and land revenue paid in last three years
- No utility charges exceeding 10,000 outstanding for over six months
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 19 of 60
2002 —section 42A inserted to ROPA, 1976 & section 25A added to the Senate (Election) Act, 1975—yearly statements of assets and liabilities to be submitted by Members of the Senate, National and Provincial Assemblies by 30th September every year.
Statements published in official gazette
Failure to submit statement—member ceases to function—false in material particulars is corrupt practice.
Election expenditure
Return of election expenditure to be filed by the returned candidate within 10 days from the poll
All other contesting candidates to file their returns of election expenditure within 30 days of publication of name of returned candidate in the official gazette
Disclosure, Political Parties
Political Parties Act, 1962—amended in 1979—section 3A inserted—every political party to account for the sources of its funds and submit the finances and accounts to audit by an officer or authority authorized by the Election Commission
Accountant General Audit and Accounts authorized by Election Commission to audit the accounts of the parties and submit report.
Political Parties Order, 2002—Article 13—Every political party to submit to Election Commission a consolidated statement of its accounts containing annual income and expenditure, sources of its funds and details of assets and liabilities.
Statements to be audited by a Chartered Accountant and to be filed within 60 days from the close of each financial year.
Party becomes ineligible to get election symbol if statement of account not submitted to Election Commission.
Limitations
Election expenses limits for candidates
1962 : For National Assembly Rs 2000, for Provincial Assembly Rs 1000—additionally Rs 200 allowed as personal expenses.
Expenses return to be filed with RO within 15 days of declaration of election result. Non- compliance amounted to illegal practice.
1965 : For NA Rs 15,000 for PA Rs 10,000. Returns filing within 35 days.
1971 : Limit for NA Rs 25,000 & for PA Rs 15, 000. Personal expenditure up to Rs 200
1976 : Ceiling fixed for NA Rs 40,000 & for PA Rs 25,000 or at the rate of fifty paisa for each entry in the electoral roll of the constituency whichever is greater.
Ceiling for Senate election was Rs 5,
Returns to be filed within 45 days
1985 : Requirement of filing election expenses returns done away with.
1986 : For Senate election limit raised to Rs 50,
1988 : Ceiling restored and raised for NA Rs 5,00,000 & for PA Rs 3,00,000.
1993 : Maximum limit for NA Rs 10,00,000, for PA Rs 6,00,
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 21 of 60
Challenges faced by the ECP
Mr. Sher Afghan, Joint Secretary (Elections), ECP. Adaptation from PowerPoint presentation.
Political Parties in Pakistan
a) There are 148-Political Parties recognized by ECP
b) Symbols allocated to about 55-parties
c) 11-Parties represent in Central and Provincial Legislatures
d) No public funding of political parties in Pakistan
e) About 50 political parties file their statements of accounts
f) Generally Political Parties are run on donations & contributions
g) Law on ‗election expenses‘ and ‗assets & liabilities‘ deals with contesting/returned candidates and not political parties
Political Finance in Pakistan (Existing Positions)
Political Finance, as reflected in existing regulations, comprise:
- Annual Statement of Accounts by Political Parties
- Limits on Election Expenses & Returns of Election Expenses
- Disclosure of assets and liabilities by candidates and Members of Parliament and Provincial Assemblies
Annual Statement of Accounts
Challenges
a) Lacks provisions on maintenance of proper books of accounts, on the basis of which, audit of accounts of political parties is to be conducted by the Chartered Accountant to fulfill the requirement of law;
b) Absence of prescribed manner for maintaining accounts of parties renders it difficult to ascertain the accuracy of the financial position of the party mentioned in the statement of accounts.
c) No enforcement system in case of default;
d) No mechanism to scrutinize the statements;
e) No sanctions envisaged
f) A defaulting political party is allowed to obtain symbol if it files its statements of accounts of previous years at the time of an election, no other way to enforce compliance
g) Over a period of time, filing of statements of accounts by political parties has become merely a formality to fulfill a requirement of law and no meaningful purpose is served
Only sanction is that defaulter party will NOT be entitled to obtain ‗symbol‘ to contest election
Recommendations
- By amending the existing laws, a Political Finance Enforcement Agency may be established [It may be ECP itself]
Page 22 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
- The proposed Enforcement Agency may be appropriately empowered to conduct audit of accounts of political parties in accordance with the procedure that may be laid down for this purpose;
- The Enforcement Agency may also be empowered to proceed against political parties who commit violations of law on its own or on receipt of complaints and impose sanctions;
- The law may also provide for maintenance of proper Book of Accounts by political parties;
- By law, limits may be placed on donations and contributions; spending limits may be prescribed; rules regarding receiving donations and contributions and preventing their misuse may also be laid down;
- Law may also be suitably amended to provide for appropriate sanctions in case of violation of laws.
Statements of Assets and Liabilities
Challenges
- Suspension of defaulters and their immediate restoration on submission of statements of assets and liabilities;
- Statement of assets if found false in material particulars, person who filed it can be prosecuted for ‗corrupt practice‘
- No scrutiny mechanism of these statements by ECP;
- A complaint can be filed against a person for his being involved in ‗corrupt practice‘ before the Sessions Judge and an appeal lies before a Division Bench of the High Court
- Provisions as to filing of complaint by or under the direction of ECP against a person for being involved in ‗corrupt practice‘ are ambiguous;
Recommendations
- Existing law needs to be amended to provide for scrutiny of statements of assets and liabilities;
- If, upon scrutiny, a statement is found to be false in material particulars, ECP may be enabled, by amendment in law, to direct filing of a complaint in the appropriate court of law;
- Law, however, may provide for giving an opportunity of being heard to person whose statement has been found to be false in material particulars, before initiating any action against him in accordance with law;
- In addition to suspension from Membership of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly, imposition of fine for each day of default may also be provided for.
Election Expenses and Return of Election Expenses
Challenges
- Lack of enforcement mechanism for failure to file returns;
- Lack of mechanism to look into the veracity of Returns, if filed;
- If, ECP directs Returning Officer to launch proceedings in appropriate court of law, he is obliged to issue notice to the defaulter before filing such complaint;
Page 24 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
C: The returns filed by political parties are on a format provided by the ECP. This format should be updated so that more insight can be provided into how political parties operate. The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAP) can help in this regard. In the corporate sector accounts are required to be audited by external auditors, and the Securities and Exchange Commission can fine or delist any auditing firm that falsifies or endorses false statements. The ECP should also look into this model. It could also link filed returns to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and verify if these correspond with the candidate‘s annual returns. This can be implemented immediately, but only if the ECP becomes a fiscally autonomous body.
Q: The presentation stated that 50 parties have submitted their accounts, yet 55 have been allotted symbols. Symbols can only be allotted if the party submits returns at the time of election. Why have the symbol of five parties not been taken away? Can the ECP punish them by changing their symbols? A: The law does not allow the ECP to change symbols, and we have proposed that there should be an appropriate amendment to this. With regards to the discrepancy in numbers, fifty parties applied for symbols before the 2008 General Elections. However, there were five more parties which got symbols for contesting bye-elections and because all parties file their statement of accounts within a stipulated period, i.e. by 29th August of each year, they did not file their respective statements at the time of allotments of symbols. (Sher Afghan, Joint Secretary Elections ECP).
C: The ECP should be given power to implement its ideas.
C: In order to deter non-serious candidates the cash deposit required for contesting elections should be increased. A law should also be passed so that independent candidates cannot contest elections; they need to be affiliated with some political party.^1
C: The security deposit fee should not be enhanced, as this will harm genuine, independent candidates.
(^1) Editor‘s note: Disallowing independent candidates would not be in line with international standards and best practices. EU, Handbook for European Union Election Observation, Second Edition p. 48 "Individuals should be able to stand as independent candidates as well as nominees of a political party." OSCE, Existing Commitments for Democratic Elections in OSCE Participating States p. 63 "Candidates seeking office must be permitted to run either as party candidates or individually.‖
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 25 of 60
Monitoring of Campaign Expenditures
Mr. Zafarullah Khan, Center for Civic Education.
Our desire is to strengthen democratic politics
― Those who are more closely acquainted with politics are only too well aware of the amount of work that actually goes into it. Due respect for this nation-preserving, state building activity!”
Friedrich Naumann-German political thinker
Our assumption is that vital political finance reforms will enhance citizens‘ confidence in the nations‘ democratic electoral processes and open-up windows of opportunity for those who have the talent and passion to serve, but are victim of plutocracy. Today only the political class and political parties bear the brunt of criticism over the increased role of money in politics. We are optimist that by opting for these long awaited reforms political parties will be the biggest beneficiaries of any such change besides restoring the public confidence in democratic politics in Pakistan.
Campaigns by the Centre: Lessons learnt
During 2002-2009 analysis of the financial health of major political parties : The Centre examines the annual audited accounts submitted by major political parties and come up with ―Civic Brief‖ titled, ―Political Parties: floating with fragile funding.‖ Major findings: Political parties are under-financed or hide their real expenditures. Since the start of this research we haven‘t seen a single political party that has spend a single penny on its policy think tank or workers/members training.
2004 Clean Money for Clean Politics: In the Global Corruption Report 2004 (Transparency International), Pakistan figured in a category of states where investment in political parties can yield desired policy outcomes sought by the investors. The Report placed Pakistan in the category of countries with medium political corruption where the culture of irregular payments in government policy making, policy consequences of political donations and odd reality of illegal political donations existed. During elections days, candidates use money to buy votes and influence poll results by openly violate spending limits. The flow of money during election days is not transparent, virtually everyone breaks the law. Voter cynicism is growing and trust in the political process is decreasing. The campaign resulted in articulation of an agenda for reforms and many political parties and civil society groups recommended Public Funding and Support.
2005 Local Government Elections: The local government elections in October 2005 had made the local politics a game of millions. Wealth waves jolted the country political landscape. Buried beneath the rubbles and ruins were; hopes of ordinary individuals about good governance at the local level and passion plus commitment of genuine political breed that already is increasingly becoming an extinct species.
2008 Election ‗Plutocracy is death of Democracy‘: The Centre monitored the use/abuse of money in 20 constituencies and paid political broadcast by various political parties. The major political parties spent about PKR. 539.26 million for 36,339 adverts. These figures do not reflect in their respective annual audited accounts submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan. 2008 campaign was one of the most expensive and the longest one due to delayed elections after the martyrdom of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
National Workshop on Political Finance 3-4 November 2010 Page 27 of 60
(1) A member of a political party shall be required to pay a membership fee as provided in the party‘s constitution and may, in addition, make voluntary contributions towards the party‘s funds.
(2) The contribution made by members or supporters of any party shall be duly recorded by the political parties.
(3) Any contribution made, directly or indirectly, by any foreign government, multi- national or domestically incorporated public or private company, firm, trade or professional association shall be prohibited and the parties may accept contributions and donations only from individuals.
(4) Any contribution or donation which is prohibited under this Order shall be confiscated in favor of the State in the manner as may be prescribed. Explanation. - For the purpose of this section, a ―contribution or donation‖ includes a contribution or donation made in cash, kind, stocks, hospitality, accommodation, transport, fuel and provision of other such facilities.
13. Information about the sources of party’s fund.-
(1) Every political party shall, in such manner and in such form as may be prescribed or specified by the Chief Election Commissioner, submit to the Election Commission, within sixty days from the close of each financial year, a consolidated statement of accounts of the party audited by a Chartered Accountant containing- (a) annual income and expenses;
(b) sources of its funds; and
(c) assets and liabilities.
(2) The statement referred to in clause (1), shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the party leader stating that-
(a) no funds from any source prohibited under this Order were received by the party; and (b) the statement contains an accurate financial position of the party.
ANALYSIS: The law is silent about any limit on donations and restricts group/associational donations.
Individual Candidates
According to Public Representation Act 1976 electoral expenses will include the expenses that are being spent from election campaign (the time when nomination papers are submitted) to the day after polling. It will not include the amount of (Rs. 4000) for National Assembly and (Rs. 2000) for provincial assembly submitted as the token money for election participation.
Provided that where any person incurs any election expenses on behalf of such candidate, whether for stationery, postage, telegrams, advertisement, transport or for any other item whatsoever, such expenses shall be deemed to be the election expenses incurred by the candidate himself.
As per the law candidate of National Assembly is restricted to spend money not more than Rs. 1,500,000 while for Provincial Assembly this limit is of Rs. 1,000,000. Candidate has to keep the record of billing through receipt if amount is Rs. 500 or more.
Page 28 of 60 Election Commission of Pakistan
As per the Law Returning Officer has to keep the record of electoral expenses for one year that would be asked anytime for inspection or the copy of whole document of expenses.
No candidate shall provide transport facility to any voter except his/her family.
Selling and buying of vote is accusation by law.
No candidate shall hang electoral board, banner or poster that is more to the size mentioned under Election Law. Wall chalking is prohibited by law.
Recommended Size of Political Adverts Poster 2 x 3 Feet, Hoardings / Board 3 x 5 Feet, Banner 3 x 9 Feet and Pamphlet / Leaflets 9 x 6 Inches
The local authority and the Returning Officer shall be responsible for the effective implementation of the provisions of this section.
Section A-J of clause 171 of Pakistan Penal Code also deals with the election related offenses.
For the Senate Elections
According to the Senate (Election) Act, 1975 maximum ceiling is PKR 1 million.
The Senate election is an ‗indirect election‘ and in a party-based polity this ceiling appears to be on higher side.
In 2002 amid party based polity we witnessed the victory of ‗independent Senators‘ that gives credence to allegations of vote-buying.
At least three political parties (MMA, PPP-P and PML-N) launched investigations on alleged sale of votes or non-voting for party candidates. The MMA took disciplinary action against its five legislators on alleged sale of their votes.
In 2009 this trend was checked as majority of the Senators were elected ‗unopposed,‘ with the exception of Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Assets of Legislators
The Members of the Parliament (The Senate and the National Assembly) and Provincial Assemblies are required to submit to the Election Commission by 30th^ September, yearly statements of assets and liabilities of their own, their spouses and dependents.
This is a mandatory requirement under Section 42A of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and Section 25A of the Senate (Election) Act, 1975.
Analysis
The legal regime controlling Political Party Finance is vague as it does not specify maximum donation limit or expenditure limit during the election period. (Political parties arrange rallies, organize centralized publicity and facilitate paid political broadcast etc).
According to the research by the Centre during Election-2008, the PML arranged 27, PML-N 60, PPP-P 35 rallies/processions addressed by the Central leadership. The MQM 44 arranged telephonic addresses (4 were simultaneous in 40 cities).
