ISLAMABAD - The registration of overseas Pakistanis is going to be started soon to grant them the right to franchise in the next parliamentary elections.

A high level meeting was held at the office of Advisor to Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Zaheer-ud-din Babar Awan, which was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Zufi Bukhari, Chairman Nadra, DG (IT) Election Commission of Pakistan and Secretary Parliamentary Affairs. The meeting discussed the measures to assure that the right to vote was extended to overseas Pakistanis. The meeting considered the modus operandi for voting procedure and decided that the registration of the overseas Pakistanis should be initiated in the earliest. It was decided that those Pakistanis would be registered who had the possession of either the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) or passport. The meeting decided that Election Commission and NADRA would devise a plan to provide the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis through secret ballot. The meeting also stressed that the participation of all the overseas Pakistanis should be ensured. The meeting decided to schedule another meeting in the next week to decide on the implementation of the decisions taken.