Islamabad (HRNW) Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has rejected claims that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is taking away the overseas Pakistanis right to vote by amending the Elections Act 2017, saying the amendments were made to help the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) prepare for electronic voting.
The law minister said the election body needed time to prepare as Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) required extensive training of staff as well as voters. “We also need to see utility issues in remote areas before moving to machine elections,” he maintained.
“ECP has told the government that the commission can hold machine elections in phases,” the law minister said, adding that the government alone did not take the decision to amend the laws.
He lamented that the coalition government has asked PTI chief Imran Khan for deliberations on electoral reforms but he did not respond to letters asking to nominate representatives in the Senate and the National Assembly.
The minister further highlighted that, according to the ECP, many countries in the Middle East, where millions of overseas Pakistani reside, has refused in writing to make arrangements for electronic voting.
“There are technical glitches in the local laws [of respective ME countries] to hold this exercise,£ he said.
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