ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government and the opposition have agreed to form a parliamentary committee to discuss matters relating to electoral reforms, amid a deepening controversy over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the country.
Electoral reforms have been a hot-button issue in Pakistan where political parties have long accused each other of rigging the polls.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has lately been pushing hard to introduce reforms, including the introduction of EVMs. But major opposition parties have rejected the proposal.
The consensus on forming a parliamentary committee to discuss proposed reforms was reached in a meeting of government and opposition lawmakers in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“It was agreed that a committee comprising members from both the Houses (the National Assembly and the Senate) would be constituted to work on various issues related to electoral reforms,” read a post on the official Twitter handle of the lower house of Pakistan’s parliament.
“It was decided that motions would be moved in both Houses for the constitution of the committee.”
During the meeting, it was decided that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser would nominate members of the electoral reforms committee in consultation with parliamentary leaders.
Apart from the opposition, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also warned that hastily using the EVMs could jeopardize the next general election scheduled for October 2023. Recently, it submitted a list of 37 objections to the use of EVMs in the Senate of Pakistan.
The move irked members of PM Khan’s cabinet and the ruling party lawmakers, who accused the ECP of derailing electoral reforms by trying to prevent the use of EVMs in the next election.
The ECP, however, maintained that a largescale deployment of these devices was not possible in a short span of time, especially when they had not been properly tested and provided no ballot secrecy, voter anonymity and mandatory transparency at various levels.
To allow the use of EVMs, a legislation needs to be approved by both houses of parliament.
