All set for decisive battle on electoral reforms

Joint sitting of parliament summoned tomorrow

ISLAMABAD:

The stage is all set for a decisive battle between the treasury and the opposition benches over the electoral reform bills, among other things, as they would go for a vote in the joint sitting of parliament summoned on November 17 (Wednesday).

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which landed in hot water last week after its allies expressed reservations whether the next general elections in the country should be held through the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), has finally won back their support on electoral reforms after they met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday.

“We have earlier voted in favour of the electoral reform bill and it has already been passed from the National Assembly,” Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA)’s Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza told The Express Tribune.

Fehmida said, “It would be odd to do the opposite this time around.”

Verbally, the IPC minister said, everyone is in favour of using technology in the polls but the reservations of allies came as they have not been given presentations on EVM.

“The MQM was given a presentation on EVM today [Nov 15],” Fehmida said, adding that the MQM-P members said that they would give suggestions on the electoral reforms soon.

On the deadlock between the government and allies, Fehmida said that the federal cabinet has long been discussing the matter but proper presentations were not given to the allied parties and it led to creating some distance between the government and the allies.

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Speaking about reservations, Fehmida said that GDA wants the federal government to play more role in Sindh as the provincial government has left no stone unturned in destroying Sindh. She said the GDA also wants representation in the standing committees.

About the opposition parties’ allegations that the government had support from the quarters concerned, Fehmida said that if the government and its allies had the support, why they would go for ensuring transparency in the polls.

“The opposition’s statements are contradictory … if we had the support then there was no need to take a step for ensuring transparency in the elections,” Fehmida said. “The GDA would stand by the government and vote for the electoral reform bills.”

PML-Q’s Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema attended the call, saying he would definitely talk about the issue in half an hour but then he was not available for comments. MQM’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui didn’t attend calls.

Following the meeting with allies, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that PM Imran addressed the reservations of the coalition partners and evolved a consensus on the matter of electoral reforms.

“All allied parties have expressed full confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Chaudhry said, adding that it was unanimously decided that the joint session would be summoned on Wednesday.

Read PTI wins support of allies on electoral reforms: Fawad

“All electoral bills will be tabled and allied parties will support them,” he said.

On the other hand, the opposition parties have also geared up their efforts to give a tough time to the treasury benches as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly made phones calls to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Sherpao, Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, ANP central leader Amir Haider Hoti, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and MNA Mohsin Dawar and discussed the current political situation.

Last week, the beleaguered government tasted defeat twice in the National Assembly during voting on two bills and, later on, it had to put off the joint session of parliament within 24 hours of its summoning after its allies maintained distance. Since then, the opposition parties have exerted pressure on the government and are devising strategies for countering the government in the joint sitting.

Soon after the “moral victory” over the government, the leader of the opposition in NA had invited the opposition parties to a dinner at the Parliament House where he along with other opposition leaders had vowed to give a tough time to the government in and outside parliament over spiraling inflation, increasing poverty and “bad governance”.

Though the PPP and the ANP had parted ways with the opposition parties’ alliance – the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – the opposition leader has been trying to keep the opposition parties united against the government when they would go for changing the voting system of the country on Wednesday.