ISLAMABAD – Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf on Thursday accused bureaucracy of creating hurdles in the way empowering the overseas Pakistanis with power of vote that too at the moment when Pakistan is to hold elections next month.
“Unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles were being made as an excuse just to deny the overseas Pakistanis of their right and this was cause of grave concern for PTI,” Imran Khan said on Thursday while meeting a delegation of overseas Pakistani’s that called on him here.
The members of the delegation whished to remain anonymous, conveyed their reservations about the government’s seemingly denial to give them right of voting in the upcoming general election.
Following the meeting with delegation, Imran Khan expressed grave concern over the refusal of right to vote to the overseas Pakistanis by Election Commission of Pakistan and urged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim to intervene and implement the direction made by Supreme Court of Pakistan in this regard.
It is pertinent to mention here that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday had reiterated its stance that it might be impossible to include overseas Pakistanis in the polling process with 30 days left in the general elections due to legal and other factors.
Imran Khan, however, said, it was unjust to deny right of vote to million of overseas Pakistanis who were playing important role in supporting country’s economy by sending remittance worth billion of US dollars annually back home.
Khan said that he could not comprehend as to why the options of Nadra’s e-voting software and postal ballot were being opposed to facilitate voting by the overseas Pakistanis.
“It is a fact that the Pakistanis living in other countries are our ambassadors. They are sending billions of dollars every year from abroad to Pakistan, which was a major source of running our expenditure. But unfortunately, the government institutions have been denying them their basic right for which the overseas Pakistanis are feeling detached,” he said and added the step-motherly treatment with the Pakistani diaspora was counter-productive and uncalled for.