Zaidi for collegium in EC appointments

UNDER ATTACK FROM THE POLITICAL CLASS, ZAIDI REITERATED HIS DEMAND FOR A COLLEGIUM SYSTEM OF APPOINTMENT IN CASE OF THE CEC AND OTHER COMMISSIONERS.

The NDA government and the Election Commission have locked horns over a slew of proposals made by the poll panel to ensure free and fair elections in the country.

Undeterred by the Centre’s rejection of its demands for ‘totaliser machines’ to deny political parties access to booth level voting patterns, and for more muscle to the commission to countermand polls in case of bribery, chief election commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi has refused to relent. He has shot off more letters to the government to push for electoral reforms.

The government recently rejected the EC’s demand for legal powers to countermand polls if there is evidence of bribing voters. “The government’s reason for disagreeing is that bribery is a matter of investigation. We say, so is booth capturing. We say we countermand elections for booth capturing only on the basis of the report of the returning officers and observers. Similarly, we will also countermand elections for bribing voters if we have the reports and reliable evidence,” Zaidi told HT in an interview.

“We are pursuing this. It’s not a question of seeking more powers but ensuring more fairness in elections. We have only two elements, free and fair elections.”

The CEC has also ruffled feathers by taking on political bigwigs, issuing notices for poll code violations to defence minister Manohar Parrikar and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during the ongoing assembly elections.

Under attack from the political class, Zaidi reiterated his demand for a collegium system of appointment in case of the CEC and other commissioners. “If all political parties are not on board in the selection of election commissioners …there will always be an issue. There might be concerns that ‘A’ been appointed by a particular party, etc. All CECs appointed earlier worked according to legal and constitutional provisions in a neutral way.”

He clarified that the present system has worked well, but going forward a collegium system will be better.

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