Final Report European Union Election Observation Mission Islamic Republic of Pakistan General Elections, 25 July 2018 Islamic Republic of Pakistan European Union Election Observation Mission FINAL REPORT General Elections, 25 July 2018 October 2018 This report contains the findings of the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) on the general elections. The EU EOM is independent from European Union institutions, and therefore this report is not an official position of the European Union. This report is available in English and Urdu, but only the English version is official. European Union Election Observation Mission Islamic Republic of Pakistan Final Report General Elections, 25 July 2018 Page 2 Table of Contents I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 3 II. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 III. EU EOM 2018: DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES ............................................................................................. 8 IV. POLITICAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................... 9 V. IMPLEMENTATION OF 2013 EU EOM RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 11 VI. LEGAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................................ 12 VII. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................................................................. 19 VIII. VOTER REGISTRATION ......................................................................................................................................... 24 IX. REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES ...................................................................... 25 X. CAMPAIGN ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................................. 28 XI. MEDIA ........................................................................................................................................................................ 32 XII. PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN ............................................................................................................................... 37 XIII. PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ....................................................................................... 37 XIV. PARTICIPATION OF RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES AND OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS ..................................................................................................................................................................... 38 XV. CITIZEN OBSERVATION AND INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION ........................................... 40 XVI. ELECTORAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION ................................................................................................................. 42 XVII. POLLING, COUNTING, TABULATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROVISIONAL RESULTS .................. 44 XVIII. RESULTS AND POST-ELECTION ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................ 47 ANNEX-1: TABLE OF 2018 EU EOM RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 50 ANNEX-2: ELECTION RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 74 ANNEX-3: MEDIA MONITORING RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 75 ANNEX-4: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 88 European Union Election Observation Mission Islamic Republic of Pakistan Final Report General Elections, 25 July 2018 Page 3 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The European Union deployed an Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to observe the 25 July general elections after a mission was welcomed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The EU EOM was present in Pakistan from 24 June 2018 until 23 August 2018. The mission’s mandate was to observe all aspects of the electoral process and assess the extent to which the elections complied with international commitments for elections, as well as with national legislation. The EU EOM encountered significant challenges and difficulties before and during its deployment to Pakistan. Unlike in previous elections, it faced unprecedented delay in the deployment of the whole mission. Due to a series of bureaucratic delays, including with issuing visas and accreditations, EU long-term observers arrived in Pakistan later than planned and were deployed to districts only one week, sometimes less, before election day. This had repercussions on the mission’s ability to observe and thoroughly assess some fundamental areas of the electoral process. These included the candidate nomination process and candidacy complaints and appeals, the campaign environment, as well as the work of the election administration at local level. Additionally, despite constant efforts, meetings with two main interlocutors, the ECP and the judiciary and the various courts, were very limited or did not take place at all. The non- extension of visas for members of the core team led to an earlier than planned departure of the EU EOM from Pakistan. As a result, the final stages of the electoral process were not observed. The 25 July 2018 general elections followed, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, two terms of continuous civilian rule with two elected legislatures completing their terms. The elections took place against a background of allegations of interference in the electoral process by the military-led establishment and the role of the judiciary as a political actor. An increase in violent attacks and threats targeting political parties, party leaders, candidates and election officials severely affected the campaign environment in the two weeks before election day. The bomb attack during a Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) campaign event in Mastung district, Balochistan, killed 149 people and injured over 200. Several other candidates and hundreds of campaigners, party workers and citizens were injured. An attack near a polling station in Quetta on election day killed over 30 people, including children. Pakistan has adopted key international treaties applicable to elections. The legal framework provides an adequate basis for the conduct of elections in line with international standards. The Constitution largely provides for fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, information, movement, association and assembly, as well as the right to vote and to stand. Fundamental rights are subject to “any reasonable restriction imposed by law” and therefore vulnerable to arbitrary implementation. Freedom of expression and the right to stand may be curtailed by vague, moral and ethical requirements. Blasphemy laws are problematic for the effective exercise of freedom of speech, while legal restrictions on the right of assembly were, on occasion, applied in an excessive manner during the 2018 elections. After the 2013 elections, Pakistan embarked on an ambitious process of electoral reform. The Elections Act 2017, which followed an extended period of consultations, repealed eight pieces of legislation, creating a single unified law. Overall, ECP powers were strengthened and its orders were given the same weight as High Court orders. It was also empowered to make rules, clarify the law and, if necessary, make provisions where there were gaps. These powers gave new space to the ECP to manage the election process more independently. Despite the reforms, however, there are still gaps in various aspects of the law. The processes by which political parties choose candidates are inadequate. Candidates and parties benefit from insufficient campaign finance regulation, resulting in an uneven playing field. The law does not specify a start date for the campaign period. This entails uncertainty for the reporting period for campaign expenses and in relation to the overall enforcement of campaign rules. European Union Election Observation Mission Islamic Republic of Pakistan Final Report General Elections, 25 July 2018 Page 4 The National Assembly comprises 342 members, with 272 members directly elected to general seats, 60 members elected to seats reserved for women and 10 members to seats reserved for non-Muslims. All members serve a five-year term. The 272 members are directly elected in single-member constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. The members of the four provincial assemblies are elected in the same way. Members for reserved seats are elected under an indirect proportional representation closed party-list system. These seats are allotted to political parties based on their electoral performance in the general seats. The reserved seats for women are distributed to parties in proportion to the number of general seats won in each of the provinces. Non-Muslim reserved seats are allocated in proportion to the number of general seats won by parties nationally. The recent constituency