On Thursday, the incumbent government revealed that elections would be held in the country only after the electoral reforms. The government has already started working on electoral reforms, and it was decided that the government would set aside reserved seats for overseas Pakistanis. Imran Khan has been very active for overseas voting rights, but it is clear that the election will not be held using the general electronic voting machine and the Interne.
The ruling coalition maintained that reserved seats would be set aside to resolve the problems of Pakistanis living abroad so that their representatives could be their voice in Parliament and solve their problems. It added that the government would also have to come up with a strategy to administer voting rights of Pakistanis living in the Middle East as political activities are not allowed there.
Read more: Interviews of economists for interim PM being conducted: Sheikh Rasheed
The ruling coalition observed that Imran Khan, simply because he enjoyed a majority in the Parliament, made the most controversial electoral amendments, and these must be scrapped. PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal and PPP’s Shazia Marri maintained that the electoral reforms were in violation of the constitution and were unilaterally approved by the former government.
Ahsan Iqbal said that the electoral role would be taken back from NADRA and handed over to the Election Commission, as was the case in the past. He added that constituencies would be made according to the population of the area and not per the number of votes registered in the area.
Election Commission of Pakistan has reserved the verdict on reference of dissident PTI members which will be announced tomorrow at 3 PM. Kal Jumma hai. Just saying.
— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) May 19, 2022
He further said that electronic voting machines must be abolished, maintaining that it was PTI’s unilateral decision to introduce them. He underscored that PTI wanted to use electronic voting machines, which are controversial even in the developed world, adding that the machines could also be a source of digital fraud.
PML-N League leaders said that amendments would have to be made to prevent the re-use of RTS, make the counting process more transparent, and enhance the role of polling agents.
Read more: US assures Pakistan help in stabilizing economic crisis
The ruling coalition says amendments must be made before the next general election to prevent pre-poll rigging and allow all political parties to participate freely in elections on an equal footing.