Do we need another Fakhru Bhai? No please

DUBAI: A 64 million dollar question has again arisen with reports that the government and the opposition have agreed to appoint Rana Bhagwandas as the new Chief Election Commissioner. The question is: Do we want a replay of the Fakhru Bhai episode? Why I say so is that Rana Sahib is a very honest and upright man; he has been a bright and brave judge; he has respect and dignity written all around him; he is past his working age, and he is also from a minority. Were all these qualities not present in Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, the CEC who presided over such a faulty election process that despite his five star rating, he could not control the men who had been appointed before him as members of the ECP and who could not ensure all the procedures and rules that were to be followed for the 2013 polls. The controversy of the 35-punctures apart, was it not Fakhru Bhai, who was made an equal to any member of the ECP, and who could not assert himself when drastic wrongs things were going on right under his nose. The punctures story needs proofs for people to see. It was a brilliant ploy to use his name and credibility by the Zardari-Nawaz schemers to put him on the top without the steering of the vehicle of monstrosity that was called the ECP. As was his habit, when the going got tough, Fakhru Bhai wilted under pressure and when he was criticised, he quit the job, easily wriggling out but only after the damage had been done. Now comes in another Fakhru Bhai on the stage. What is the guarantee that Rana Sb would not do what Fakhru Bhai did? Will he insist on dissolving the present ECP and re-naming the members, bringing in people who have above-board credentials? Will he ensure that proper tools are used? Under Fakhru Bhai, we had been told that imported ink will be used which would be verifiable by Nadra. Fakhru Bhai did not know or did not care or could not handle what was going on. Months later, Chaudhry Nisar told us that no such ink was used and thus no verifications by Nadra could be carried out. So how will Rana Bhagwandas handle Nadra and the verifications process which is still pending? I was going through some unclassified documents of the US State Department, declassified on Sept 22, 2012, and found one cable by the then Ambassador Anne Patterson in which she talks about the US demand that the Government of Pakistan had not removed the secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan. This was the kind of deep penetration that foreign governments have in our election process. So, it can be imagined what would be the level of interest and intervention of our Establishment, the interim governments, the nominated caretakers of political parties and the nominees of election contestants who sit in the ECP as members. We do not need another Fakhru Bhai, so Rana Bhagwandas must decline the offer and if not, he should explain to all how he would handle these monsters that roam around the powerless post called the Office of the Chief Election Commissioner — Pity on him.