Electoral reforms: ‘Consensus reached on Election Act amendments’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday that consensus was reached on the Election Act 2017 amendments in the electoral reforms committee and the final draft will be forwarded to the members on Thursday, ARY News reported.

The electoral reforms committee held another session regarding the amendments to the Election Act 2017 ahead of the general polls. The committee reached a consensus on the Election Act amendments and the final draft will be forwarded to the members on Thursday.

The committee members will formally apprise their stances after holding consultations with the party leadership.

Read more: Electoral reforms without opposition would be controversial: PILDAT president

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the media that a consensus was reached on all amendments and some changes were made in the draft documents.

He detailed that some written recommendations will be forwarded by Fehmida Mirza and the final draft will be sent to the members by Thursday.

Tarar confirmed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was on board regarding the amendments. He claimed that the committee approved the amendments regardless of their party associations.

He also confirmed that the i-voting facility will not be given to overseas Pakistanis in the general elections. To a question, he replied that the president would not create any hurdle to the bill seeking the Election Act 2017 amendments.

READ: I-voting, EVMs facilities cannot be provided in elections: ECP

Earlier, Federal Minister for Law & Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar advised the coalition government to complete legislation on electoral reforms by July 28.

The sources further say the coalition partners including Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan have raised reservations ahead of the elections.

According to MQM-P, the elections on the 2017 delimitation will create problems while Pakistan People’s Party has raised reservations about the RTS and urged for timely results.

The federal minister said that the draft of the electoral reforms committee has almost been finalized, and now the draft will be converted into written form.

READ: Electoral Reforms body meets to mull over amends in election law

He stated that the meetings took place in closed session to maintain the secrecy of the bill before the proposed time.

It is pertinent to mention here that in the two sessions of the parliamentary committee, the body completed a preliminary review of 70 of the 73 amendment proposals in election law suggested by different political parties.

Some political parties expressed serious reservations over the delay in the announcement of election results. They suggested not accepting the results submitted after a delay.