A night before the joint session of Parliament those with magical powers brought back the PTI’s dissenting allies to the fold. “The government has addressed the reservations of the coalition partners and will now carry out the pending legislations in the house with their support,” Fawad Chaudhry said. The move strengthens the view that the establishment still backs the PTI despite recent fracas on the appointment of the DG ISI.
After assurances of support from its coalition partners followed by some behind-the-scenes management, the government appeared confident of getting some two dozen bills passed in one go in the Joint Session on Wednesday despite having a mere two-vote majority. With a partisan Speaker bent upon announcing as passed whatever bill was presented without proper counting according to Opposition, the Second Election Amendment bill was declared to have been passed with 221 votes in favour with 203 against. The opposition challenged the count, tore the copies of resolution and announced boycott. Similarly passed were the bills for right of vote to Pakistanis abroad and the bill supporting use of EVMs.
The ECP has rejected the EVMs on solid grounds. The Commission has already conveyed 37 objections in writing to Parliament. These include the possibility of introducing changes in the EVM software any time. Also, since EVMs can be hacked, the machines cannot conduct free, transparent elections. In a letter written to the Senate committee chairman last month the ECP warned that EVMs can open up possibility of ‘more sophisticated fraud’.
With serious objections from the constitutional body assigned the task of conducting the elections, the government cannot get away by passing a resolution with the help of its parliamentarians while opposed by nearly as many opposition parliamentarians. The issue could end up at the Supreme Court as well as provide the combined opposition a cause célèbre for agitation.
