Islamabad, September 10, 2021 (PPI-OT):All our efforts to forge understanding and consensus on the two Electoral Reforms Bill under consideration in the Standing Committee of the Senate on Parliamentary Affairs went in vain when a responsible minister who was also member of the Committee used abusive language and laid a barrage of unfounded charges on the Honourable Election Commission of Pakistan of corruption and sabotaging democracy in Pakistan, said Senator Taj Haider, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
During the last three months members of the Standing Committee had reached consensus on almost all the clauses of the First Bill. For the Second Amendment Bill members from both sides had given workable proposals to introduce reliable technology step by step in the electoral process and to find ways to give representation to overseas Pakistanis in the National Parliament. However, on the last day of the time period allotted to the Standing Committee to submit its recommendations honourable guests of the ECP were made to walk out and then later the government side too surprisingly chose to walk out of the Standing Committee meeting on its own Bills.
Senator Taj Haider said that the silver lining however remained that the remaining members of the Standing Committee managed to stop the ill-advised, immediate and forcible imposition of EVMs and attempts to rig the next elections through highly doubtful i-voting planned in the name of facilitating overseas Pakistanis. Members who chose to stay back and to continue the meeting of the Standing Committee deserve to be congratulated on their achievement.
Government Ministers have once again repeated their threats of getting the Bills passed in the joint session of the Parliament. The unfortunate part is that now it has been almost 60 days when the last session of the Senate had ended. The Senate of Pakistan, most unfairly under the cover of Article 70 (3) of the Constitution has been made to lose its constitutional right to consider the more than 20 Bills that had been bulldozed through the National Assembly in half an hour. The threats of getting the bulldozed Bills made into Law by once again bulldozing them in the Joint session of the Parliament shall be resisted by members in the Parliament and undoubtedly by the political parties and the people of Pakistan all over the Country.
The most unwise and self-destructive actions of this Government have already caused unbearable miseries for the People of Pakistan. They have tried to destroy everything that the People of Pakistan and their democratic leadership had built through their unparalleled sacrifices. The day is not far when such forces of decay and destruction shall meet their own end to the great relief of the People.
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