Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Transparency in the Election Run-Off!

Though the final results of presidential elections are yet to be announced, it is most likely that there would be a second round of elections between the two leading candidates. Although this has not been clearly stated by the Independent Elections Commission but the Commission’s spokesperson has also mentioned the possibility of a second round between the two candidates. Similar rumors are in air among the general public as well. According to the constitution, a candidate should at least secure 51% votes to become the president of the country and present results show that none of the candidates has achieved this landmark victory and thus the chances of second round seem probable.

Although it would become clear after the Commission announces complete results but if the elections are going to drift to the second round, some of the measures should be taken to avoid the discrepancies that we observed in the first round. Although the election process is very costly and its first round also deprived us of some working days when institutions were shut down for almost a week due to security threats and it would be very difficult for our feeble economy to endure the blow of another such round when security risks would increase and educational institutions will have to be shut down once again to avoid any unhappy incident but if it is an inevitable process and demanded by the constitution of the country then some corrective measures can be taken in this regard.

In the first round of elections, voter turnout was really impressive and the participation of common public in the election process enhanced the image of these elections in the international media and community but different illegal practices in the elections blurred this good image of the country. Videos were released on internet in which people were shown filling the ballot boxes with the ballot papers without any voters. At some places, ballot boxes were stolen and filled at home. Similarly, there were reports of burning of ballot papers. While at some places, there were complaints of the lack of ballot papers and other required materials. Because of all these reasons, thousands of complaints were registered with the Complaints Commission and the investigation of these complaints also delayed the results. Now that the commission has all the information about such areas, it can take better and strict actions in those areas to make happen the second round of rigging-free and decisive elections. With all these, we would be sure that the process of power transition has happened properly.