Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a letter, directed National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser to form a inter-party parliamentary committee to discuss electoral reforms and to review the election reforms bill tabled by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government in October 2020.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar shared the premier’s letter addressed to the NA speaker in a tweet on Wednesday, wherein PM Imran stressed upon Qaiser the need to form a plan “on how to introduce best practices including the use of technology and introduction of EVMs (electronic voting machines) to strengthen our electoral system and democracy”.
The premier, in the letter, highlighted that the treasury bench had submitted a bill for “meaningful electoral reforms to remove the prevailing stigma attached to our electoral process”.
He underscored that the recent Senate elections had brought to the forefront the prevailing issue of vote buying and selling.
The prime minister highlighted that the government had moved the Supreme Court (SC) in this regard and the judiciary directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure transparent, fair, and free elections and stated that secrecy of the ballot was not absolute”.
Prime Minister Imran lamented the fact that the electoral body had not paid heed to the demands for transparent election and that the SC had not released a verdict in favour of open ballot.
He further said that the cries of rigging were made by the losers of every election, and how this “has now begun to destroy the entire credibility of all elections in Pakistan, casting a shadow of doubt over our entire democratic process as well as the functioning of our parliamentary system”.
“It is in the interest of democracy in Pakistan to establish a credible and transparent electoral system and put an end to all venues that allow for corrupt practices that are eroding our parliamentary democracy,” he maintained.
“I would also suggest a definitive time frame for reaching agreement on all these issues that marred the transparency of our elections so that enough time is given to institute the reforms before the next general elections,” the letter read.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran had decided to form a bipartisan committee comprising government and opposition parties to help prepare proposals for constitutional amendments for electoral reforms and also to award provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Sources in the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had told Pakistan Today that the government had started efforts to pave the way for transparent elections and the premier had decided to reach out to the opposition as the government as well as the opposition have reservations over the Senate elections.
After consultation with the prime minister, Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Babar Awan had called on NA Speaker Qaiser and had discussed the formation of a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms.
During the meeting, it had been agreed upon to form a parliamentary committee to finalise proposals including the holding of Senate elections through an open ballot.
Furthermore, the meeting had agreed to form a committee on constitutional and electoral reforms. The committee would be chaired by NA Speaker Qaiser and the opposition and the government will be given equal representation in the committee.
The committee would review in detail the constitutional, legal aspects and reservations of the opposition regarding the GB’s interim province and work out a consensus strategy while deciding whether the committee will also review the pending election reform bill.
The committee would consult on the proposed amendment to the constitution related to the Senate elections.
Qaiser had said that important legal issues can be reformed through legislation. The government and the opposition should resolve public issues amicably. The lack of reforms in the Senate elections is a spectacle, he had added.
