Govt to summon joint session of Parliament over electoral reforms: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday government has decided to summon a joint session of Parliament for legislation on electoral reforms.

He said this while talking to the media after the PTI parliamentary party meeting held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

The information minister said the government had been trying to hold talks with opposition parties on election reforms and legislation in this regard since last year.

Referring to the cases and NCA probe against PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif, Fawad Chaudhry said two cases of more Rs30 billion are under trial in Pakistan against the leader of the opposition.

He advised PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and other absconders of the opposition party to return back to Pakistan and face cases.

Separately today, the National Assembly approved a motion to take up key legislation relating to amendment in election rules, anti-rape bill and others during a joint session of the Parliament.

According to details, the lower house of the Parliament approved a motion to take up the election ordinance (amendment) bill, election ordinance (second amendment) bill and election ordinance (third amendment) bill before the joint sitting of both the houses.

Speaking on election-related bills, Farogh Naseem said that they included amendments aimed at giving the right of voting to the overseas Pakistanis and the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The motion also called for taking up The International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, Anti-Rape bill, and National Vocational and Technical Training Commission. (amendment) bill 2021 during the joint sitting of the Parliament.

The National Assembly also adopted two bills presented by Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood that included Higher Education Commission (amendment) bill and Higher Education Commission (second amendment) bill.