National Voters Day: Leaders want judiciary to supervise elections

Political parties divided over how people should register their votes

KARACHI: The leaders of political parties demanded that the upcoming elections must be held under the supervision of the judiciary and the army to avoid poll rigging.

This demand was made by the representatives of several parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) at an event organised by the provincial election commission to mark  the National Voters Day.

They were, however, divided on the issue of registration and casting votes on the basis of permanent or present address on their CNICs. The representatives of the PPP, PML-N and JI emphasised that votes should be registered on the basis of the voter’s present address as shown on their identity cards. The MQM workers opposed this and suggested that it should be done on the basis of their permanent address. “People from rural areas should vote from their constituency, rather than the address on the identity cards,” said MQM MNA Khushbakht Shujaat.

PML-N leader Saleem Zia and PPP leader Habib Junaid insisted that people have a right to vote from where they were currently residing. “How is it possible for a voter belonging to Peshawar to go with his family to cast a vote in his area? It will be problematic,” said Zia.

He added that the election commission should play a part in accommodating voters. JI leader Zahid Saeed said that some political parties create terror in Karachi on the day of the election, which paves the way for rigging. He added that the election commission must ensure fool-proof security so that the votes are not tampered with and that voters are also protected.

Minorities leader Michael Javed said that the right to elect representatives through direct votes must be given to minorities. Member of the election commission, Justice (retd) Roshan Ali Essani, said that there were discrepancies in the voters list, which have been rectified to some extent. “We will continue this process till the election is announced. People should also come and identify the errors in voter lists,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2012.