PPP to oppose proposed constitutional amend bill on Senate Polls

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party has decided to oppose the government’s move for constitutional amendment bill to change the secret ballot vote in senate elections, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to sources, PPP, one of the two major opposition parties in the parliament, has decided to contact with the parliamentary parties to oppose the change in the voting method by replacing existing secret ballot to open ballot vote, as proposed by the government for the upcoming senate polls.

A meeting of the opposition parties’ alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is also expected to consider over the proposed constitutional amendment bill.

Prime minister’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs, Babar Awan in a media talk on Thursday announced that the PTI government would table a bill of amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan in the Parliament next week.

It is to be mentioned here that a five-judge larger bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed hearing a presidential reference seeking opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections.

The bench, also comprising of Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi, will conduct next hearing of the reference on February 2.

The reference was submitted by the Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan after getting approved by President Dr Arif Alvi under Article 186 of the Constitution.