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- Wednesday 17th July 2013 1:01 pm
ECP officer rules out voting rights for Pakistanis abroad
ISLAMABAD, July 16: A senior official of the Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday ruled out compulsory voting in the country as
well as the right of franchise to around 4.7 million overseas
Pakistanis.
Speaking at a citizens` forum on `Agenda for electoral reforms in Pakistan after 2013 general elections` organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) on Tuesday, additional secretary ECP Syed Sher Afgan said it had been proposed to impose a fine of Rs5,000 on those who stayed away from the voting exercise.
Even if only five per cent of the total around 85 million eligible voters did not cast their votes, the figure would go around four million.
`How will those not having money to buy a bread would pay a fine of Rs5,000? The space in jails will also fall short if they are sent behind bars,` he remarked.About voting rights for the overseas Pakistanis, he said around 1.7 million of them were settled in Saudi Arabia.
Even if half of them chose to vote, hundreds of polling stations would be required to be set up in that country. He said Pakistani expatriates lived in 106 countries with a concentration in some 15 states.
A participant of the event warned that political slogans in a country like Saudi Arabia may lead to mass-scale deportation of Pakistanis.
Mr Afgan said the idea of `none of the above (NOTA)` option in the ballot paper was also not practicable. `What if the majority opts for NOTA in over 100 constituencies,` he questioned.
He said the E CP was in the process of preparing a comprehensive electoral reforms package which would be sent to the parliament for legislation after the presidential election and by-polls in 42 national and provincial assembly constituencies in August.
He said the holding of elections within 90days after completion of the term of assemblies instead of 60 days was being proposed in the draft. Giving salient features of the proposed amendments, he said it included extension in the timeframe for submission and scrutiny of nomination papers, appeals and campaigning.
He said the ECP would also seek powers to act against the polling staff found to be responsible for any illegal action that influenced the results.
He said the record obtained from the PakistanElectronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) showed that political parties spent millions of rupees on the election campaign.
He said a report had been prepared and would soon be placed before the election commission.
Against the expectations that thumb impressions of voters help curb impersonation, the official said though the individuals who managed to cast more than one votes could be traced, it would remain a mystery as to whom and at whose behest the bogus votes had been cast.
He added that it was inappropriate for the returning officers to put the candidates to a test of Islamic knowledge in the name of examining their eligibility.
He said there should be a provision in the law for scrutiny of election expenses of candidates.
Answering a question by a participant, he said it was not possible to amend the prescribed form for the presidential candidates at least for the upcoming polls.
He conceded that the election commission was unaware of the constitutional provision that required holding of presidential election at least 30 days prior to the expiry of the term of the incumbent president.
Tariq Malik, the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), added that the authority had developed a software to enhance its thumb impression matching capacity from 100 to 100,000 per day.
He said around 150 election petitions had been filed and Nadra was ready to do the needful when the election tribunals passed orders for biometric verification.
He was of the view that the thumb impressions of the voters should be verified at the time of voting.
Nadra is in the process of developing electronic voting machine (EVM) which will be ready for trial within six months, he added.
[TOP]
Speaking at a citizens` forum on `Agenda for electoral reforms in Pakistan after 2013 general elections` organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) on Tuesday, additional secretary ECP Syed Sher Afgan said it had been proposed to impose a fine of Rs5,000 on those who stayed away from the voting exercise.
Even if only five per cent of the total around 85 million eligible voters did not cast their votes, the figure would go around four million.
`How will those not having money to buy a bread would pay a fine of Rs5,000? The space in jails will also fall short if they are sent behind bars,` he remarked.About voting rights for the overseas Pakistanis, he said around 1.7 million of them were settled in Saudi Arabia.
Even if half of them chose to vote, hundreds of polling stations would be required to be set up in that country. He said Pakistani expatriates lived in 106 countries with a concentration in some 15 states.
A participant of the event warned that political slogans in a country like Saudi Arabia may lead to mass-scale deportation of Pakistanis.
Mr Afgan said the idea of `none of the above (NOTA)` option in the ballot paper was also not practicable. `What if the majority opts for NOTA in over 100 constituencies,` he questioned.
He said the E CP was in the process of preparing a comprehensive electoral reforms package which would be sent to the parliament for legislation after the presidential election and by-polls in 42 national and provincial assembly constituencies in August.
He said the holding of elections within 90days after completion of the term of assemblies instead of 60 days was being proposed in the draft. Giving salient features of the proposed amendments, he said it included extension in the timeframe for submission and scrutiny of nomination papers, appeals and campaigning.
He said the ECP would also seek powers to act against the polling staff found to be responsible for any illegal action that influenced the results.
He said the record obtained from the PakistanElectronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) showed that political parties spent millions of rupees on the election campaign.
He said a report had been prepared and would soon be placed before the election commission.
Against the expectations that thumb impressions of voters help curb impersonation, the official said though the individuals who managed to cast more than one votes could be traced, it would remain a mystery as to whom and at whose behest the bogus votes had been cast.
He added that it was inappropriate for the returning officers to put the candidates to a test of Islamic knowledge in the name of examining their eligibility.
He said there should be a provision in the law for scrutiny of election expenses of candidates.
Answering a question by a participant, he said it was not possible to amend the prescribed form for the presidential candidates at least for the upcoming polls.
He conceded that the election commission was unaware of the constitutional provision that required holding of presidential election at least 30 days prior to the expiry of the term of the incumbent president.
Tariq Malik, the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), added that the authority had developed a software to enhance its thumb impression matching capacity from 100 to 100,000 per day.
He said around 150 election petitions had been filed and Nadra was ready to do the needful when the election tribunals passed orders for biometric verification.
He was of the view that the thumb impressions of the voters should be verified at the time of voting.
Nadra is in the process of developing electronic voting machine (EVM) which will be ready for trial within six months, he added.
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