ISLAMABAD, The Federal Cabinet on Tuesday approved two important ordinances as part of the electoral reforms process to ensure transparency in elections and grant right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis by introduction of modern technology.
Briefing the media about the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said one ordinance would enable the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections and the other would empower it to take steps to give voting right to the overseas Pakistanis.
The minister said the government’s electoral reforms consisted of four parts, including use of EVMs, e-voting for the overseas Pakistanis, biometric and legislation.
He said EVMs had been developed and the government had unveiled its legislation agenda for the purpose, while work was underway on biometric and e-voting mechanism.
The cabinet was given a briefing by Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz and Information Technology Minister Syed Aminul Haq with reference to electronic voting machines and e-voting.
He said the cabinet was informed that the lowest implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to the coronavirus was recorded in Sindh, especially in Karachi.
The situation in the province, particularly in Karachi, was a matter of concern, and if the SOPs were not followed it could further worsen and affect the supply chain upcountry.
Islamabad, he said, was at the forefront in implementation of the SOPs, while there was stability and decrease in COVID-19 cases in Punjab and Khyber Pakthunkhwa due to better compliance of the precautionary measures.
He pointed out that the SOPs implementation had significantly improved with the involvement of military personnel.
The cabinet, he said, approved the deployment of the army personnel in Sindh, accepting the provincial government’s request. The situation would have been better in that province had its government already opted for the army personnel’s deployment.
The minister said during the last 24 hours, 161 persons had passed away due to the coronavirus, majority of them in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas 3,377 were diagnosed with the virus, rising the number of total active cases to 86,151.
He said the lockdown during Eid holidays was aimed at curbing the rise in cases and hoped that the Sindh government would pay special attention to the implementation of SOPs and with the deployment of army personnel, things would hopefully improve there.
Fawad said the cabinet decided 40 per cent payment of outstanding dues to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), whose electricity had already been consumed. It would be a major step in stabilizing the power sector, he added.
The cabinet, he said, also endorsed decisions taken by its Economic Coordination Committee on April 28.
Referring to the ECP’s decision of recounting of votes in the NA-249 Karachi by-election, Fawad said re-polling should be held in the constituency because the winning candidate would be getting hardly 5 percent votes. It was a matter of concern that anyone elected by only 5 percent votes, would represent the constituents in the assembly.
It was a universal truth that rigging had been done in the bye-election, that was why the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded re-polling, he added.
Citing the example of Election Commission of India, he said the ECP should ensure implementation of the corona SOPs during bye-elections.
About Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maryam Nawaz, he regretted that unfortunately an immature political leadership had been imposed in the country, who did not know about the importance of legislature. Likewise, he mentioned that Shehbaz Sharif and Ahsan Iqbal wanted the Election Commission to reform the electoral process on its own.
He said both the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were reluctant to give voting right to the overseas Pakistanis. If they did not support the reforms, the government would move ahead in ensuring the participation of expats in the election process keeping in view their key role in Pakistan’s economy, he stressed.
He pointed out that how the Parliament could be made irrelevant and the departments concerned like the national Accountability Bureau, ECP and others were allowed to do legislation on their own.
Prime Minister Imran Khan was leading the initiative of electoral reforms through the Parliament, he added.
The minister asserted that like the demise of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and end of the politics of their leaders Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, the politics of PPP and PML-N was also going to end.
Fawad said initially 24 desks were being set up at the foreign embassies for issuance of inheritance certificates, and the overseas Pakistanis would not be required to come to Pakistan for the purpose.
He said the cabinet approved establishment of the Pak-Saudi Supreme Coordination Council for which a memorandum of understanding was signed during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Pakistan.
This council, he said, would be activated and greatly help in promotion of bilateral relations and cooperation, removing hurdles in its way.
The launching of one billion tree drive in Saudi Arabia would give an opportunity to the Pakistani labour, the minister said.
The cabinet, he said, approved the issuance of a commemorative coin on the completion of 100 years of NED University Karachi, one of the best higher education institutions in the region.
The minister said a 90-day remission had been given to the prisoners on the occasion of Eidul Fitr while the concession would not be available to those involved in serious crimes like terrorism or espionage.
Replying to media persons’ questions, the information minister said out of 49 point electoral reforms document, all the political parties had consensus on 40 points.
He said the opposition parties raised the objection that they were invited by the prime minister for talks on the electoral reforms. On it, he said, the prime minister wrote a letter to the National Assembly speaker asking him to start formal dialogue with the opposition on the electoral reforms.
The minister said in a tweet few days ago he also called for dialogue over the electoral reforms agenda but the opposition was not interested. Unfortunately, the two major opposition parties were being led by politically immature persons, who could not understand the importance of matter. The entire nation was witnessing the negative attitude of both the PPP and PML-N, he added.
The government, he said, would involve the civil society, media persons and bar councils to create broader consensus on the electoral reforms.
To a question, he said the vaccination of over-40 year old citizens started on Monday and 164,000 people got vaccinated on the first day. So far over 2 million people have been vaccinated and the government had set the target of vaccinating some 25 million people by the end of July, which would be a major achievement against the pandemic.
He said the anti-vaccination lobby exited all over the world. It was the choice of the people if they wanted to get vaccinated or not, but those, who got vaccinated, would be safe.
Fawad said that Dr Ishrat Hussain-led Committee on Institutional Reforms has done a tremendous job for reformation of institutions.
He said during the past three years, heads of 58 departments had been appointed on merit through a transparent manner and no one went to the court against those appointments. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the present government was that in three years not a single corruption scandal had been unearthed.
About the European Union resolution, the minister said a similar resolution was adopted against India as well but unfortunately the media only highlighted the one against Pakistan.
He categorically said there would be no compromise on the issue of blasphemy as the respect and honour of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was very close to the heart of every Muslim.
He said a proscribed party tried to force the government on gunpoint, and tortured the police and security agencies personnel. The government, however, took action against that party itself without any foreign pressure because whatever its leaders did was against Islamic teachings, constitution and law of the land.
The government attached no importance to the EU resolution on its internal
matters, he added.
Replying to a question, he said the PPP and the PML- N were involved in a mud-slinging match and they were not interested in the reformation of electoral process. Quoting the words of Khawaja Asif,”Kucch sharam hoti hai, kuchh haye hoti hai”, he advised both the parties not to cross limits as they were allies in the recent past.
Answering a question, Fawad said Prime Minister Imran Khan would leave for Saudi Arabia on 25th Ramazan. Besides performing Umrah, he would hold meetings with the top Saudi leadership, including Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman during his stay there.
The visit would greatly contribute to expand bilateral relations between the two countries, he added.
To another question, he said that the government had initiated the process of proscription of a party, which had 30 days’ time to go for appeal. After that the case would be sent to the Supreme Court, which would make the final decision under the law.
It was balanced law, which did not give powers to the government to proscribe any party on its own, rather the Supreme Court was the final authority in that regard.
He said the national institutions had to play their due role in such cases. How the TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan) was registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan as it was receiving funds from many questionable sources, he asked.
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