President Dr Arif Alvi has called for addressing the reservations raised by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with regard to amending the electoral laws.
He reiterated that the final decision about implementation of the electoral processes would be taken by the ECP while the government organizations would facilitate the former in executing the reform process in a transparent manner. He emphasised that the right to vote was the fundamental right of every citizen of the country and they could not be deprived of their basic right due to the weaknesses in our system.
The president expressed these views while chairing a meeting of the sub-committee on Emerging Technologies in i-voting.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T), Syed Amin-ul-Haq, Minister for Railways, Mr Azam Khan Swati, Secretary M/o IT&T, Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Acting Chairman NADRA, Brig (R) Khalif Latif, DG (IT) ECP, Mr Khizer Aziz, and other officials of the Government.
Addressing the meeting, the President underlined the need for improving the existing electoral laws to enable about 9 million Overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote in line with the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
He stressed the need for improving communication among the concerned stakeholders to address any misconceptions about i-voting for Overseas Pakistanis. Referring to the Elections Act, 2017, Mr Azam Khan Swati informed the meeting that 49 amendments were incorporated in the said Act with the consent of ECP and this time the relevant organizations should also support the ongoing reforms to ensure transparency and credibility of the electoral process.
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