No extra powers for caretaker govt as election amendment bill passed

ISLAMABAD: The Election Amendment Bill has been approved and no extra powers given for the caretaker government, ARY News reported

As per details, the Election Amendment bill was approved by the joint session of parliament.

Under the new amendments, a candidate can nominate up to three polling agents at one polling station but one polling agent will be allowed inside the polling station at a time. The bill stated the presiding officer is bound to notify the voter list outside the polling station.

The joint session also approved an amendment for the transparency of postal balloting which stated that the ECP will upload the details of the postal ballot on the website before elections and if the winning or losing ratio is five percent then recounting of votes will take place.

The bill stated if the difference of votes is 8000 in the national assembly constituency and 4000 in provincial assembly then recounting will be held by presiding officer in the presence of the candidates.

Furthermore, the Election Amendment Bill bars the caretaker government from making news international deals but can continue and sign proceedings related to the current agreements.

Earlier, it was reported that the differences between the government allies began to intensify as the reservations of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Clause 230 of the Election Act remains unaddressed.

The PPP claims that the inclusion of unnecessary additions to the powers of the caretaker government is unwarranted.

The primary responsibility of the caretaker government is to oversee day-to-day affairs and conduct transparent elections, the PPP has expressed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is not taking the allies in confidence on crucial matters.

The committee did not approve the inclusion of transitional provisions in Class 2A of the Election Act, as suggested by the PPP.