ISLAMABAD - Federal Cabinet on Tuesday approved two ordinances as part of electoral reforms to ensure transparency in the general elections. Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting in Islamabad.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain while briefing media about the decisions taken in the Federal Cabinet meeting said that one ordinance will enable the Election Commission of Pakistan to use electronic voting machines in elections while the other empowers the ECP to take steps to give the overseas Pakistanis right to franchise.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain explained that the government’s electoral reforms consist of four parts, including EVMs, e-voting for overseas Pakistanis, biometric and legislation. He said EVMs were developed and the government unveiled its legislation agenda for the purpose. He said work is underway on biometric and e-voting.
Speaking about the Covid situation in the country, the Information Minister said the Covid SOPs are not being implemented in letter and spirit in Karachi, and the Sindh Government should look into it. 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. He said the Cabinet has approved the Sindh Government’s request for deployment of the army for ensuring implementation of the SOPs.
Politics of PPP and PML-N going to end, says Fawad
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.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the Cabinet approved 90-day remission to jail prisoners on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr. However, this remission will not applicable to the prisoners of heinous crimes. He said the facility of succession certificates through NADRA is also being provided to overseas Pakistanis, and in the first phase, desks are being opened in twenty-four embassies.
He said the Cabinet approved issuance of a commemorative coin to pay tribute to NED University Karachi on 100 years of its establishment. The Minister said the Cabinet also approved to waive off 10 percent withholding tax on private sector bids in Railways.
Responding to a question, the Minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia will greatly contribute to expand bilateral ties.
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 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 stabilising 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 by-election in NA-249 Karachi, the Minister said re-polling should be held in the constituency because the winning candidate will be getting only five percent votes.
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.