Election Roadmap
By Ghani Chaudhry

IT Recent announcement by President Musharraf to set out schedule for the next general election in November 2007 when National Assembly completes its five year term has injected an element of controversy about the tenure of the Parliament.

The constitution of the country under Article-52 fixes the term of the parliament at five years from the day of its first meeting after elections. But this is the maximum term of the parliament and not its fixed tenure. A fixed term excludes any midterm dissolutions.

There are some 48 countries having parliamentary system of government in the world and all have only maximum terms of the parliament in their basic laws. No country has fixed term of the parliament.

The American Presidential system has four year fixed term of office of the president and two years of the house of representatives. The calendar of polls is fixed in the constitution.

Elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the even-numbered years to elect 435-member House of Representatives. Every fourth year on the same day people go to polls to elect a President and vice president in addition to members of the House of Representatives.

These elections are held on due dates come what may. The calendar of elections was followed during the world war II. The British house of commons extended its term till the end of war.

In parliamentary systems the terms of the house of representatives are terminated by the vote of the house itself, the decision by the Prime Minister to go to the masses in snap polls to seek fresh mandate to legislate on some specific issues or to boost his fragile parliamentary majority.

Fixing the tenure of the parliament would amount to keeping the Prime Minister away from his option to call elections when in his opinion these were of political benefit to him.

Elections were held in Britain twice in 1910 to bring about parliamentary reforms of 1911. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi held snap elections in September 2005 almost two years ahead before end of the term taken from last elections in 2003 to seek mandate to carry out reforms in the Japan Post. The polls gave landslide victory to him to enable him to push through the reforms.

The Lower Houses or Houses of Representatives of parliaments worldwide are considered to be more sensitive to public opinion and a key factor in determining their terms is the political reality that the Prime Ministers will always be seeking to call election at times of maximum benefit to his party.

The 47 countries, having parliamentary form of government worldwide have parliamentary terms ranging from three to five years. Australia and Newzealand have three years term each, Germany, Russia and Japan have four year term each and India, Pakistan, and Britain have five year terms.

In Japan snap elections are usually called before the four year date, the members tend to sit for only two to three years at a time. In Britain 28 elections were held from the year 1900 to 2005 bringing average age of the parliament much less than four years.

This is despite the fact that the parliament extended its terms in world war I and II by three years and five years respectively.

In last century only four parliaments elected in 1945, 1959,1987 and 1992 completed their maximum five year term. In neighbouring India snap polls have been held more than once.

Holding midterm elections or frequent change of governments does not reflect weakness or instability of the political government. Italy saw change of over 50 governments in 48 years preceding the government of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who lost recent election at the end of his five year term. According to some analysts governments with tattering authority run their maximum terms.

In Pakistan it was not the principle of dissolution of the parliament that attracted flak of the people. It was, in fact arbitrary dismissals of governments and dissolution of parliaments at the hands of the Presidents of the country at their whims.

Those presidents were stitched into political canvass as patchwork from bureaucracy. The presidents with political background like Ch. Fazal Elahi abstained from tempering with the parliament. It was regrettable that he was being made 'butt of jokes' for sticking to his constitutional role. He comported himself strictly in line with the letter and spirit of the constitution in using his assigned ceremonial powers.

It were those who axed the parliaments arbitrarily and it was again the incumbent President who was pushing the pendulum to the other extreme by insisting that parliament must complete its maximum five year term.

This was against the spirit of the constitution in depriving the Prime Minister of his option to dissolve the parliament at the time of his choosing. The announcement of election schedule in November next was not in line with

The members of the parliament have started showing signs of nervousness about election that were still 18 months away. The government ministers were making statements that were clearly wide of the mark and a bark up the wrong tree.

The opposition parties were intensifying their demands for putting in place a viable election machinery to deliver honest and transparent elections.
election issue than settling dust kicked up by politicians in the political arena. added more confusion in political arena than ainstead of settled some dust kicked by politicians

Democratic systems of governance in various countries at present largely approximate to the American Presidential and the British parliamentary systems and periodic elections to parliaments to seek mandate from the electorate for governance of the nation are integral part of both dispensations.

The present Labour party government of Tony Blair came to power after elections held in May 1997. He had since held two more elections each after four years in June 2001 and May 2005. In Britain it is customary for an election to be held on a Thursday.

However the Prime Minister could choose otherwise. The last time the general election was not held on Thursday was Tuesday 27 October 1931.

The American House of Representatives was not dissolved before election while in case of the British House of Commons usually 17 days timeframe was allowed in run up to the polls.

It was impossible for the Pakistani nation to turn back the clock to 7th October 1958 when the country was first derailed from the democratic path through General Ayub Khan's intervention.

It was however possible to wipe the slate clean and re-start the journey on the democratic road from the same day by designating it (October 7) as Election Day.

It was also desirable to hold elections within three weeks of the dissolution of the Parliament, as timeframe of 90 days allowed for the purpose was not mandatory.

A shorter timeframe would help reduce poll campaign expenses of contestants. Since democratic countries were now going to the masses more frequently it would be more desirable to reduce the term of our parliament to four years.●

The writer is former Executive Director, state run news agency of Pakistan Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
Email: gfrsun @ isb.paknet.com.pk

© 2006 Ghani Chaudhry