The leaders of opposition parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), on Saturday decided to oppose the constitutional amendment being introduced by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to change the voting procedure of the Senate.
According to local media reports, leaders of the said parties, after mulling over the matter, would finalise a strategy on Monday before the National Assembly session. Reports state that both the PML-N and PPP have strongly rejected the idea of an open ballot.
Earlier in the month, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had approved the proposal to legislate on the issue to bring “transparency in the electoral process”.
On Thursday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan had said that a bill comprising three amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan would be presented in the Parliament next week ahead of the upcoming Senate elections.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID) in Islamabad, Babar Awan had said the constitutional amendment bill proposes allowing “voting not to be hidden”.
“To date, no one ever talked about legislation to make the Senate elections fair,” the PM’s aide had underscored. “For the first time in Pakistan’s history, a constitutional package for reforms has been prepared.
“It was agreed in the Charter of Democracy that the vote should be open and recognisable. In order to stop horse trading, the Opposition parties should unite and consider the amendment as a national agenda,” he had stressed.
“Governments do not go as a result of bad prayers but through a no-confidence motion under a constitutional procedure,” he had said. “The transparency report is another proof of the PML-N’s corruption.”
A meeting of the opposition parties’ alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is also expected to consider the proposed constitutional amendment bill.
Meanwhile, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, is hearing a presidential reference seeking opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections. The bench, also comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi, will conduct the next hearing of the reference on February 2.
The reference was submitted by Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan after getting approved by President Dr Arif Alvi under Article 186 of the Constitution.
