RPO
Much debate has recently been going on regarding the recently promulgated RPO (Amended) 1972 Ordinance. Some provisions in the RPO may face legal challenges and some are difficult to be implemented by the political parties due to time constraint. For instance, the new electoral rules had given an opportunity for the loan defaulting contestants to participate in the upcoming polls through rescheduling of their loans six months prior to the submission of application for candidacy.
But due to delay in promulgating the RPO, loan defaulters' bid to run in the polls is over as the stipulated timeframe of rescheduling their loans has ended. Legal experts have opined that such candidates may challenge the provisions in the courts for not providing the stipulated opportunity to them for remedying their disqualifications and there is a good chance that they may win the legal battle as it is indeed the fault of the government that it could not provide them with sufficient time.
The case of party registration can also bring in more legal battles. For instance, in order to meet the criteria for registration with the EC, the parties are required to revise their constitutions and elect new committees through national councils. Under the state of emergency, this seems a difficult proposition. The parties will also have to sever ties with their front organisations and chapters abroad. The idea of bringing the parties under registration is welcome but if the parties file a writ petition with the High Court, challenging the legality of the provision to do away with front organisations, then things will get murkier. And then the government is also not barring those convicts from polls whose appeals are pending with the higher courts and thus the CA's recent call for electing “clean and competent” candidates rings hollow. Now it appears that the government and the EC may ultimately have to bow down to the pressure of the political parties to move forward with the electoral process and this will only weaken the image of the government. So despite the fact that some of the provisions of the RPO are praiseworthy (registration of the parties, disallowing civil and military bureaucrats and heads of NGOs from participating in polls till 3 years have elapsed, option of “no” vote etc), the delay in promulgating the electoral laws may hinder proper implementation of the laws.
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