EVMs to pave way for ‘tampering’ results

Opposition describes Nov 17 as one of ‘darkest days in country’s history’

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:

Condemning the PTI-led government for “hurriedly” passing bills during a joint sitting of parliament a day earlier, the opposition leaders on Thursday claimed that electronic voting machines (EVMs), which were given the nod for use in the next general elections, could be tampered with to manipulate the results.

“The government has made rules of its choice by bulldozing the authority of the ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan],” PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said while addressing a news conference alongside PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman and other opposition leaders in Islamabad.

“The elections under these rules would be controversial,” he added.

“There are reports that the NADRA [National Database and Registration Authority] chairman is manipulating the data.”

The PML-N leader maintained that Germany was at the top in terms of technology and its top court had declared the use of EVMs illegal

Iqbal claimed that Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav had been given an NRO (amnesty) by passing one of the bills.

“The International Court of Justice had said that Pakistan would decide for itself how to give him [Jadhav] the right to appeal,” he noted.

Read Parliament passes amendments allowing EVMs, overseas voting in crucial joint session

“When the right to the appeal was already there, then was the bill passed to appease someone?”

He further claimed that the State Bank's sovereignty had been put at stake.

“Elections will be held on rules that are acceptable to all.”

Speaking on the occasion, PPP’s Sherry described November 17 as one of the darkest days in the country’s history.

She said parliament was deprived of the right to representation during the joint sitting.

“The whole voting process was trampled on in the presence of the speaker. The government passed laws which were rejected,” she added.

JUI-F’s Shahida Akhtar Ali said parliament was disgraced on Wednesday through the manner in which the legislation was enacted.

“[JUI-F chief] Maulana Fazlur Rehman had said from the first day that oath should not be taken from this parliament,” she added.

Sardar Shafiq Tareen, an independent senator from Balochistan, questioned as to how would the EVM system be installed in his province in the absence of electricity and other required facilities.

“We condemn the bills that have been passed.”

Separately while speaking in Karachi, PML-N Senior Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called for a constitutional amendment to apply Article 6 of the Constitution that deals with treason on anyone found "stealing the elections".

Read more Premature to say if EVMs can be used in next polls: ECP

"Elections are stolen here and the only way to ensure free and fair polls in Pakistan is to bring a constitutional amendment," he told the media.

The PML-N leader alleged that the government was trying to bring the ECP under its control by passing the EVM bill.

He claimed that EVMs had failed around the world, and public money was being “wasted” on such “experiments” in Pakistan.

"The electoral process in Pakistan is not controversial, but the mechanism to hold the polls is. We are now even making election process controversial.”

Abbasi feared that EVMs would even erase the evidence of rigging.

He noted that the National Assembly speaker had sent opposition parties a letter seeking consensus of all political parties for passage of bills in parliament.

"We agreed to it and said the so-called electoral reform bills should also be sent to Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms in view of the practice of the past. But the speaker did not respond to us," he added.

The PML-N leader pointed out that an electronic voting system had been in place in the National Assembly for 35 years but was not even used once for the voting of 342 people.

"How can we use EVMs to conduct the voting of 230 million people?"