ISLAMABAD: Difference of opinion over newly passed law on use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next general elections has resulted into divisions within network of leading civil society organizations working on elections and democracy in Pakistan.
A founding member and former secretary-general of Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), Sarwar Bari who is a staunch supporter of incumbent government’s stance on EVMs and the recently passed law on their use, has accused FAFEN of fudging data while compiling report on 2013 election results.
Government through joint session of parliament on November 18, passed the law to use of EVMs in the general elections. Opposition parties have announced to challenge the move in the Court. Country’s apex supervisory body on polls, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), expressed reservations on application of new legislation. FAFEN has also pointed out flaws in the newly passed law.
There had been rift within the big guns of the organization. Bari had been a strong supporter of EVMs and advocated their use in his public appearances on the issue in the recent months. However, FAFEN in a clarification issued on September 21st, disassociated itself from his stance.
Clarification by FAFEN pic.twitter.com/Wm8VQ9GMrG
— FAFEN (@_FAFEN) September 21, 2021
Enraged Sarwar Bari, speaking at a press conference on Saturday claimed that a former executive director (ED) of Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA), the parent organization of FAFEN was involved in fudging data obtained through result forms, tagged Form-14, of polling stations.
According to him this was done in connivance with some senior officials of Election Commission of Pakistan.
Sarwar Bari is National Coordinator of a non-government organization Pattan Development Organization, a partner of FAFEN.
Bari said after the general election 2013, TDEA worked on a report which was published in January 2014. It titled “National Assembly Election Result Analysis – Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), Comparative Turnout and Party Trends”. Fudged data was used in compiling of the report, he claimed.
Almost eight years after the report was made public, FAFEN’s former secretary general raised serious questions on credibility of the report and charged then ED TEDA of machinations.
“The required number of Form 14 was [randomly] selected and accordingly Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) forms were prepared in a closed room”, Bari maintained.
Quoting a former staffer of TDEA dealing with Information Technology (IT) department during general elections 2013, Bari claimed that many field observers could not send PVT forms due to the purported failure of the communication infrastructure at TDEA secretariat and the then ED Mudassir Rizvi allegedly conspired to fabricate the whole data.
FAFEN termed the allegation malafide, meant to damage the integrity, credibility and unity of Pakistan’s largest non-partisan network of civil society organizations.
Immediately after Bari’s press conference the Executive Council of FAFEN issued a press statement calling his revelations a smear campaign. It said these were baseless allegations by a former member, who was expelled from the network for misconduct a few days ago.
“Mr. Bari’s accusations followed his and his organization’s termination from the basic membership of FAFEN a few days ago after he failed to provide any evidence to substantiate similar claims and his campaign against the network that he has been running since October 2021”, the statement said.
It further said his termination was approved by consensus by the 20-member National Council of FAFEN according to its established rules and procedures. “Mr. Bari no longer represents FAFEN and its positions and neither should he use the name of the network for his social and media legitimacy” FAFEN’s executive council added.
FAFEN Rejects Baseless Allegations by Its Expelled Member
Welcomes any scrutiny, inquiry and audit
For press release, visit: https://t.co/0JmUYHyOnY pic.twitter.com/xdzmuNjGAD— FAFEN (@_FAFEN) November 20, 2021
Bari in his presser termed the report titled “National Assembly Election Result Analysis – Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), Comparative Turnout and Party Trends” as ‘great farce’, and claimed that some election observation datasets were allegedly tempered.
He claimed that in protest, some of TDEA’s IT experts and researchers resigned at various stages, while some of them were bribed to keep their mouths shut.
To substantiate his claim about connivance of some officials of FAFEN and ECP in to the matter, Bari referred to page numbers 232 and 233, paras 725 and 726 of 2015 report of General Elections 2013 Inquiry Commission constituted by Supreme Court of Pakistan to determine anomalies in polls.
He said a senior director of TDEA appeared before the Commission and argued that PVT findings corroborated with the ECP results.
Process of Liberating FAFEN from stranglehold of TDEA has been initiated today by FAFEN’s founding organisation Pattan. Pakistan needs FAFEN. Pls support us in our effort.
— sarwar bari (@BariSarwra) November 20, 2021
He alleged that TDEA, in the recent past, secretly and without ascertaining proper authorization from its Board of Trustees, and without informing FAFEN members, paid a huge amount of money to cover travel and accommodation expenses of the ECP high officials.
The former executive director TDEA, Mudassir Rizvi speaking to The News Today rejected the allegations saying that the accounting system of FAFEN and TDEA is very transparent, and not a single penny had been spent unlawfully for lodging and boarding ECP officials.
Rizvi through his legal counsel Salman Akram Raja has served the legal notice of defamation to Sarwar Bari and is determined to knock on the door of court if Bari failed to respond to the notice by 21 December 2021.
The FAFEN terminated the partnership of Pattan Development Organization (PDO) headed by Sarwar Bari on 16 November 2021. The executive council of FAFEN with two-thirds majority endorsed the disassociation of Pattan with the network on 20 November 2020.
FAFEN’s Executive Council said their organization receives administrative, financial and technical support from TDEA. The organization upholds transparency in its working and is open for any type of scrutiny, inquiry and audit of its data, reports, finances and decision-making.
“It also notes with concern that Bari’s effort ahead of general election 2023 may just be an effort to damage Pakistan’s most credible, evidence-based voice on elections on the basis of flimsy, frivolous, baseless and nonsensical notions, which cannot stand in any court of law”, the statement issued on behalf of council added.
Bari’s press conference steered another controversy in the already charged political environment. Now Ruling Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) had rejected the results of 2013 general elections that had brought Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to power. Information minister Fawad Chaudhry has called thorough inquiry into allegations levelled by Bari in his press conference.
فافن کے سابق سربراہ سرور باری نے فافن کی مقامی ہوٹل میں حکومت مخالف کانفرنس کی فنڈنگ اور ورکنگ کو لے کر سنگین الزامات عائد کئے ہیں میں نے اکنامک افئرز ڈویژن اور FIA کو ہدایتی کی ہے کہ ان الزامات پر تحقیقات کریں اور قانونی کاروائی کا آغاز کیا جائے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 20, 2021
“I have directed economic affairs division and federal investigation agency to conduct inquiry into these allegations”, Chaudhry said in a tweet.
(With input from Zeeshan Javaid)
