Electoral reforms bill
The PTI government has set things in motion towards changing the procedure of Senate election in favour of a show of hands. On Friday, it tabled a bill in the National Assembly that seeks to end the use of secret ballots in the elections for the upper chamber of parliament in order to bring greater transparency to the electoral exercise. The proposed piece of legislation is in consonance with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s long held view that secret ballot for the Senate elections “is an insult to the parliament (which)… undermines party-based democracy”.
The Election (Amendment) Act, 2020 proposes a larger set of electoral reforms, including a drastic change in the electoral process of electing senators. It seeks to discourage horse-trading and manipulation; gives full mandate to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to facilitate overseas Pakistanis for exercising their right to vote; makes it mandatory to take oath within 60 days and enhances punishment for tampering with ballot paper. Apart from the main suggestion of holding the Senate elections through an open vote instead of the current method of secret ballot, the PTI government has proposed to insert a new section — 213A (political parties to hold annual conventions). This section will bind the political parties “to hold regular conventions and submit its report to the commission mentioning therein at least top ten problems of the country, reasons and solutions thereof, in view of the majority members of the party.”
In the past, the Senate elections have often attracted accusations of horse-trading, and lack of transparency continues to cast a dark shadow over the upper house. In the recent past, the election for the Senate chairman was marred by controversy when a number of voters had switched across party lines. In the statement of objectives and reasons, PM’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan stated that transparent Senate elections without manipulation and grant of voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis are the long outstanding demands of almost all the political parties, including the PTI. It is premature to speculate just how opposition would respond to the bill given its penchant for opposing everything that comes from the treasury benches.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2020.
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