Two S Asian nations in transition

In South Asia, election results are often contested by the losing parties. Most countries in the region have instituted election commissions to conduct free and fair polls.

- SMRUTI S PATTANAIK

Except for Bhutan, where election expenditure is provided by the state, in other countries, the parties or the candidates themselves have to foot the bill. South Asian history is filled with the people’s incessant quest to establish democracy. Yet this aspiration gets undermined if the election process is not free and fair.

In Pakistan, there are plans to hand over power to a caretaker government this month. In Bangladesh, the opposition demands the restoration of the caretaker government system that was abolished in 2011. These cases provide an interesting insight into the controversies surrounding the system and the inability of both countries to institute an independent election commission that can hold credible elections.

Pakistan has made amendments to the caretaker government system to make it non-partisan, to avoid a repetition of the prejudiced functioning of some caretaker governments. In 2010, a move was made to bar caretaker government members from contesting elections. In 2012, it became mandatory for the ruling and opposition parties to agree on a consensual candidate for the caretaker prime minister, unlike in the past where the president would choose one. To make the mandate of the caretaker government clear, Pakistan amended the Elections Act 2017 to say that the caretaker government would attend only to routine matters which are non-controversial and urgent and be impartial to each person and party.