ISLAMABAD
\nNational Assembly (NA) has removed electronic voting machine (EVM) and stopped Overseas Pakistani from voting right by passing Election (Amendment) Bill 2022 on Thursday.
\nThe National Assembly session began under the Chairmanship of Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf during which the election reforms bill was tabled by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi.
\nCommenting on the occasion in the lower House, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar rejected the impression that the amendment was aimed at depriving overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote.
\n\u201cOverseas Pakistanis are a precious asset of the country and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote,\u201d he stressed.
\nRegarding the use of EVMs, the law minister said that the Parliament was not against the use of technology, but had concerns about its misuse as the Result Transmission System (RTS) had failed during the last general elections \u201cto favour a particular political party\u201d.
\n\u201cThe Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also expressed its inability to hold elections through I-Voting and EVMs in a short span of time and without proper homework. It had raised its concerns about the amendments made during PTI\u2019s government as the stakeholders were not taken into confidence. \u201d
\nThe minister further added that \u201ctwo amendments are being brought to revive the Elections Act 2017, enabling the ECP to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections\u201d.
\nThe law minister further added that under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017, the commission may conduct pilot projects for voting by overseas Pakistanis in by-elections to ascertain the technical efficacy, secrecy, security, and financial feasibility of the new voting process and shall share the results with the government.
\n\u201cUnder Amendment in Section 103 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP may conduct pilot projects for utilisation of EVMs and biometric verification system in the by-elections,\u201d he added.
\nThe law minister further said that a parliamentary committee had been formed for electoral reforms in which all political parties are represented.
\nFollowing the remarks, the bill was passed clause by clause and the amendments of the previous government regarding overseas voting including electronic voting machines were deleted.
\nSpeaking on the NAB amendment bill, Tarar said that former prime minister Imran Khan did not want legislation in the parliament as he was running state affairs through presidential ordinances.
\n\u201cAfter that, some other amendments were made which abused the civil servants,\u201d he said. \u201cCivil servants were imprisoned without any evidence. The NAB laws were used to change the voice of politicians. Even the judges said NAB was used to wall-off politicians.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have suffered through this law but we do not want anyone else to suffer. This law gave NAB powers of 90-day remand which is non-bailable. Such remand is for terrorists and criminals who can be brainwashed. We are trying to make better amendments and improve the system,\u201d he said.
\nOpposition Leader in the National Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmed said the assembly should complete its tenure and elections should be held on time.
\nResponding to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s remarks, he assured that the opposition will play its positive and constructive role in running affairs of the House.
\nEarlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while speaking on the floor of the House, congratulated Raja Riaz Ahmed for becoming leader of the opposition.
\nHe assured him that he had the allied government\u2019s full cooperation in running the business of the parliament in an amicable manner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD National Assembly (NA) has removed electronic voting machine (EVM) and stopped Overseas Pakistani from voting right by passing Election (Amendment) Bill 2022 on Thursday. The National Assembly session began under the Chairmanship of Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf during which the election reforms bill was tabled by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-262835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n