Law minister says overseas Pakistanis won’t be able to vote via i-voting, confident president will sign the bill
ISLAMABAD
Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday that the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms has reached a consensus, adding that things have settled down and the report of the committee was expected to be finalised by July 20.
Speaking to the media after the committee’s fifth in-camera meeting, the law minister also revealed that the overseas Pakistanis would not be able to cast vote through internet voting in the upcoming general elections.
The committee had hit unexpected snags after some political parties brought forth new suggestions during a meeting on Monday, ultimately delaying its final recommendations. However, the law minister said that no new amendments have been proposed, adding that the amendments were related to the routine functioning of the election process and it has been tried to make the election system more transparent.
The committee, tasked with proposing crucial amendments to the Elections Act of 2017, has held series of in-camera meetings to make the recommendations in respect of electoral reforms to ensure free, fair and transparent elections, along with draft legislation, if required for this purpose.
Talking to media, the law minister said that the nomination forms were streamlined a bit further in Tuesday’s meeting and the final report of the committee carrying changes in the Election Act of 2017 was expected to come out by Thursday.
Without giving specifics, Tarar revealed that the Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Fehmida Mirza gave some suggestions to the committee regarding election process, saying she would give a few more suggestions in writing as well.
