Bill seeking Senate polls by show of hands introduced in National Assembly

ISLAMABAD: A bill titled the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020 aimed at introducing show of hands practice during Senate polls was tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday, ARY NEWS reported.  

The bill is aimed at making amendments in the Election Act 2017 and was introduced in the lower house of the Parliament by PTI legislator Junaid Akbar.

Speaking on the bill, the lawmaker said that the it seeks to attain objective of holding Senate polls using show of hands practice rather than the secret ballot.

“It is now time to stop practice of selling votes in the upper house of the Parliament and changing party loyalties,” he said and added that it was due to some people that politics and the politicians are being defamed.

Speaking on the bill, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan endorsed it and said that they believe in transparency in the politics.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser sent the bill for further deliberations to the concerned standing committee.

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It is pertinent to mention here that questions have been raised time and again during the Senate polls over practice of secret balloting that has led to victory of even those candidates who do not posses required majority to win a seat.

Moreover, another bill was tabled in the house from Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader Akhtar Mengal aimed at amending the NADRA Authority Ordinance 2000.

The bill was sent to the standing committee after approval from the house.