Talking to the media at Lahore on Friday, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim did not mince his words about the fate of MPs holding dual nationality; saying there was no room for “half Pakistanis” to represent the people, one had to be “complete Pakistanis” to be able to sit in the august Houses. The Supreme Court (SC) had already pronounced on the subject and the Election Commission (EC) was bound to follow all its orders. He maintained that both the SC and the EC “want to uphold supremacy of the law and the constitution over the (dual nationality) issue”. The CEC defined his sole objective as free, fair and transparent elections, and in this connection sought the cooperation of the media and political parties, adding all individuals as well as civil society members should come forward to help the EC in this task without which the dream of a changed Pakistan could not be realised. He, however, lamented that none of the political parties had so far acquired copies of the electoral rolls that were available at the offices of the EC. Justice Ibrahim’s other grouse was the ‘exaggerated’ figures of unregistered voters that appeared in the media and were reflected in the utterances of political leaders and challenged the media to just point out a couple of thousands of such cases. The lists were placed in the EC offices for the public to see whether their names figured there. In his reckoning the situation in Balochistan was improving and polls would be held there as well. Besides, the EC was trying to increase the number of polling stations in the country to facilitate the public in casting their votes.
It is noteworthy that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as well as MQM chief Altaf Hussain have spoken against the verdict of the SC that is based on specific provisions of the constitution. Bilawal said while in New York last Sunday that the PPP was committed to the idea that dual-nationals have the right to contest elections and that no unelected persons (an oblique reference to the learned judges) could question the loyalty of the elected people. Similarly, Altaf Hussain and his deputy Farooq Sattar have not been happy at the ruling, urging that the expatriates with dual nationality should have the right to vote.
The insistence that the dual nationals should have the right to vote is not in question. Indeed they should vote, especially as they are precious assets of Pakistan and it is their contribution which is proving a pillar of strength to the economy. Parliamentarians on the other hand, must be in conflict in their hearts when deciding on matters of national importance. Dual nationals must vote and bring to power those who they think will best be able to project and bring to reality a positive Pakistan on the world stage. On the other hand, our elected representatives must hold only green passports as representation and must experience only the benefits - and in these times of Pakistan being in the news for several unfortunate reasons, also at times drawbacks - conferred through its possession.