Only 58 out of 166 registered parties in the country have provided information, which is 35 percent, websites of 58 political parties are active, report
Staff Reporter Daily Dawn + Dawn TV Report
Islamabad: The latest report by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFN) on the online presence and transparency of Pakistan’s political parties has made worrying revelations.
According to the FAFN report, the websites of only 58 out of 166 registered political parties in the country are partially or fully active, which is just 35 percent of the total number.
According to FAFN, the majority of political parties have failed to provide basic information on their websites despite constitutional requirements. Only 40 parties have published lists of their central office bearers, while only 6 parties have provided details of executive committee members.
The report states that social media platforms cannot replace the information responsibilities of political parties. According to the report, the Jamaat-e-Islami website is at the forefront in terms of availability of information, providing 18 out of 30 types of information.
In contrast, the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) website scored 12 points, Pakistan Muslim League (N) 11, and Awami National Party 9, while Haqq-e-Tehreek Balochistan (HDT) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) scored 8, Sunni Ittehad Council and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) scored 7, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP) scored 6, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) scored 5, Balochistan Awami Party scored 4 and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) scored only 1 point.
Among the parties deprived of parliamentary representation, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Shadbad (PTS) scored 13 points. According to the FAFN report, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) website is accessible only through VPN, which limits access for general users.
Section 208(4) of the Elections Act 2017 requires political parties to publish up-to-date lists of their central office bearers and executive committee members on their websites. However, only 69% of parties with active websites are complying with this legal requirement.
The report identified a lack of financial transparency as the least reported aspect. Surprisingly, only one party has published its financial statements on its website, while no party website has information on the method of selection of candidates or the general council.
FAFN has stressed that political parties should regularly update their websites to ensure transparency, accessibility and adherence to constitutional requirements, to promote public participation in the democratic process.
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