The bills moved the PTI government closer to its aims to introduce an electronic voting machine (EVM) system in the country and give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Sept 30th,2021) The Government sent controversial Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 to a joint sitting of Parliament despite strong protest by the opposition.
The bills moved the PTI government closer to its aims to introduce an electronic voting machine (EVM) system in the country and give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.
Opposition members had walked out after pointing out lack of quorum, after which the motion to refer the bills to the joint sitting was adopted by the House.
The government remained failed to complete the quorum in the House which prevented passage of the required motion since the start of the ongoing session on September 17.
On Wednesday, the Opposition made a “last-ditched attempt ” to foil the government’s motion by pointing out lack of quorum, but the House was found in order.
According to the reports, that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan moved that under sub-rule (7) of rule 154 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of business in the National Assembly, 2007 read with Article 70(3) of the Constitution, the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, as passed by the National Assembly but not passed by the Senate within the stipulated period of 90 days, be referred to the joint sitting for consideration and passage.
The two bills related to amendments in the Elections Act, 2017 were passed by the National Assembly on June 10 this year but could not see the light of day in the Senate within 90 days.
The House also referred the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2021; the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021; the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Hyderabad Institute of Science and Technology bill to a joint sitting of the Parliament. All the referred bills were passed by the National Assembly.
Law Minister Farogh Naseem rejected all objections of the opposition members, saying that the Constitution and Elections Act authorised the government to make changes to the elections laws and use of advanced technology for fair and free elections.
He said that ECP had no jurisdiction to oppose any changes in elections laws. Rather, under Article 222 (d) of the Constitution, it was Parliament's jurisdiction to provide the conduct of elections.
Naseem said that the government wanted to give the right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis who send remittances of 29 billion Dollars to the country.
