ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on Monday said that the federal government plans to bring 49 amendments to the Election Act 2017 in a bid to reform the electoral process in the country.
Flanked by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a presser, Babar Awan said that there was nothing in the amendments that were in favour or against any political party.
Shedding light on the changes in the Election Act 2017, he said they would amend section 103 to introduce the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), overseas Pakistanis would get voting rights after changes in section 94 besides also introducing compilation of electoral rolls on the basis of the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) record, and delimitations as per the registered voters in a constituency.
He said that two reforms for democracy within the political parties would be introduced. “A new section 213 will be introduced, making it compulsory for a political party to hold an annual convention,” he added.
He said that under the reforms, the appointment of polling staff could be challenged 15 days within the electoral process. “We are also bringing amendments to hold Senate elections through an open ballot,” Babar said.
Speaking before him, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad once again reiterated the government’s offer to the position parties to sit for electoral reforms saying that those opposing EVMs have never witnessed their working.
The information minister said that they wanted to bring EVMs so that the results are not delayed for 12 or more hours. “We want the results to be received 20 minutes after the election process,” he said.
Fawad said that even the prime minister himself has asked the opposition to sit for electoral reforms after the latter objected as to why they were not invited for the talks directly by PM Imran.
Come and sit for electoral reforms, he invited, adding that they have invited them for reforms and now it would emerge as to who is against it. “Lack of electoral reforms would halt the process of political and democratic progress in the country,” he said.
Replying to media persons’ questions, Fawad said the government wanted to proceed for electoral reforms with consensus and the opposition was needed to play its role in this regard.
The minister said if both Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were not in favour of voting right to the overseas Pakistanis and their contesting the elections they should come forward and oppose it openly.
He said that the government was enjoying the majority in the National Assembly and the Senate and hence did not require the support of the opposition parties for general electoral reforms but for the constitutional reforms their support was necessary for the two constitutional amendments.
Referring to the PML-N’s opposition on the use of electronic voting machines in future elections, the minister insisted that instead of rejecting it they should seek input from their own technical experts.
He also referred to the attempts made by the government on several occasions and the non-cooperation of the opposition while PPP had named Naveed Qamar as its focal person with regard to the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms whereas the PML-N had not responded to the letter written by the National Assembly (NA) speaker.
He said that the prime minister, the speaker of the NA and the federal ministers were appealing to the opposition for electoral reforms.
Replying to a question, the minister said that one of the reforms was that the demarcation would be carried out on the basis of population and the voters in each constituency would be equally distributed to put an end to voters’ disparity in constituencies.
The minister also ruled out the possibility of hacking of EVMs, as these would not be connected to the internet as such and be in stand-alone position. He said that therefore, the chances of hacking were zero.
