The interim IT minister cited ‘diplomatic differences’ as another obstacle. DESIGN: EMA ANIS
Interim Minister for Information Technology Dr Sania Nishtar informed the three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by the Chief Justice, that the government was facing several difficulties in deploying an e-voting system for overseas Pakistanis in the May 11 elections and they wanted to seek the court’s guidance regarding this matter.
She explained that though National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) had successfully developed software for the e-voting, it would take at least 18 months to test the system and make it error-free.
The interim IT minister cited ‘diplomatic differences’ as another obstacle. She added that the Foreign Office had sought assistance from nine Gulf countries but only two had responded. She said now that the election commission was also short of time it would make things worse.
Nishtar also voiced her reservations for the voting day arrangements. “If the embassies are unable to handle situation on the polling day (May 11) then overseas citizens might stage protest, which would be an embarrassment for the Pakistani missions in other countries”. The minister said that Pakistan would also have to face severe criticism if there was lack of transparency.
After hearing her stance, the bench, also including Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, observed that it was the duty of the executives to come up with a solution to the problems. The bench remarked that instead of solving the issue the government had surrendered itself to the odds.
The bench also expressed annoyance over election commission’s representative, for not dealing the matter more seriously. “What you have done for the past two years and why have you wasted our time,” the chief justice questioned DG ECP Sher Afghan.
Adjourning the hearing till the next day (today), the chief justice stated they would pass an appropriate order in this matter.
Meanwhile it was decided in a meeting that took place between the representatives of NADRA and ECP that the SC would be informed in clear terms that the facility of e-voting could not be extended to the expatriates in the next elections. Interim law minister Ahmer Bilal, briefing the media after the meeting said that it had been decided in principle that the mechanism could not be put into practice for upcoming elections.
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I think it is much proper to say this, to admit the flaws so as to know what are the necessary improvemements this electronic voting needs. A much thorough preparation of the system I think is needed in order to hold overseas votes securely. Thanks for sharing!
Very disappointing,this is a conspiracy against PTI as they are believed to be major recipients of all overseas Pakistani vote bank.InshAllah PTI will win in any case.
What is the big surprise? This country has not accomplished much since its creation. It has gone down the hill straight into the gutter.
The government could have contracted someone like IBM Consulting and the project would have done. But when the tax money is being stolen by the politicians of this country there is no money left to do the right thing.
They should have started working on e-voting the minute they heard elections will be held on 11th May. I am too suspicious that because PTI is very popular with overseas Pakistani, they want to curb the votes so PTI doesn't win.
I find it really regretful that EC did not develop any mechanism in last two years for overseas Pakistanis. But they can vote by coming to their country. They should come to Pakistan just for the sake of their country and their family and their future. I appreciate them for sending remittance, this time they should just adjust their annual vacation and instead of coming on Eid should come during election. This is once for a life time opportunity to change the course of history. Come on show your patriotism.
@Just_An-Expat is TOTALLY CORRECT. You have left Pakistan so really just mind your business expat pakistanis. You have no idea about what is going on in Pakistan anymore. Focus on your new life overseas.
Good job. Overseas Pakistanis are not stake holders and should not be allowed to vote. Period. If they want to vote, they should go back to pakistan.
Madadgar Pakistan, a systems based political party has conceived an electronic voting system for all Pakistanis - at home or abroad. We will set up an Electronic Voting Authority (EVA). The EVA will consolidate data already available with the ECP, NADRA and the PTA and issue each voter a Personal Voting Number (PVN), allowing the voter to cast a vote by cell phone. After the vote is cast an SMS will be sent confirming the vote. After the votes are counted, another SMS will be sent confirming that the vote was counted as cast. After casting the vote, a grace period is allowed for second thoughts and the voter can change his vote. Electronic voting is here and only be delayed, not permanently put off. There are more implications but more on that another time. Low cost, instant results.
Every party has its proportionate vote bank overseas. I dont agree that PTI enjoys majority overseas. I have many Pukhtun friends who became nationalists when they went overseas; it is natural human instinct. ANP in UK and Saudi Arabia is a strong force; particularly in Saudi Arabia there are thousands of Pashtun youth affiliated with ANP. So it is a fair situation for all. Any step taken in haste could have created troubles.
Why opportunist expats so existed about elections back home, they had already left the country for personal benefits. They must come out of this dilemma and try to integrate in new environment rather than being nosy on things back home. Let people back home find their own destination. Also I agree, judiciary just doesn't understand administrative difficulties. Very sensible decision by ECP, they must not waste time and resources on unimportant issues rather they should focus on providing security to parties like PPP, ANP and MQM so they can come out freely and do their election campaigns.
Just use Facebook!
Seriously overseas Pakistanis will be so much disappointed with this news, Pakistan is having very talented IT professionals, if anyone of them comes up with solution it will be really great virtue and attempt to save Pakistan's future. Why our election commission and IT ministry and concerned departments were so ignorant about this matter? E-voting system is not only good for overseas but for local use also, to avoid repetition and fake voting, But still there is time to make impossible to possible! Without overseas voting, elections will be unfair and tasteless!
@Ahmad: So did they vote in prior elecions? No. Did that stop them from sending remittances? No. Do Indians with foreign citizenship even have a right to vote? No. Does that prevent them from sending remittances? No.
If they go ahead with faulty software also you wil break blame them. This is what happened in 2008. Millions of voters were unverified so EC presented a voter list which was actually smaller than 2002. So the judiciary said that EC was trying to deny voting rights to people. EC was ordered to include everyone on the 2002 list on the 2008 voter list. EC complied. Later the same unverified voters were declared as bogus voters in EC remarks.
Judiciary is not executive and does not understand the challenges that executive faces. When legitimate problems are overridden, it always causes problems later on.
How about a suggestion that the Supreme Court of Pakistan passing an order to deploy an apprpriate independant organisation from the UK to put right what cannot be achieved so far to implement the E-voting for overseas Pakistanis in collaboration with the Election Commission. At least this way they will have a much faster way of testing the software and or devising new virus free software ready and on standby for May 11 2013. Where there's a will, there is always a way. God willing. What do you think Imran Khan?
18 months testing! Rubbish. Whoever said that should be fired. No wonder govt cannot promote pak IT industry with people like that in charge.
Two things; They are indeed happy that we do not have the right to vote BUT blackmail on remittances? I mean come on, those are not a favour to Pakistan. They are a personal favour that just happens to help Pakistan as well, that too is arguable. We foreign Pakistanis need to get out of this mentality that our remittances are a big favour to Pakistan.
There are genuine logistics concerns. They have wasted two years, this is another point but to put everything in order in just couple of months cannot be achieved. Software needs proper testing which is not a week or month game.
@Ahmad...I cannot understand why overseas Pakistanis always boast about sending remittances. Overseas Pakistanis send these out of necessity not in the love of their country. If you want to gauge the love of country then just look at the remittances sent through proper banking channels and Hundi/Hawala. So stop bragging about sending remittances.
With time of the essence the term "keep it simple" comes to mind. How about providing an opportunity for Pakistani's to vote at their local embassies and consular offices - ain't perfect but it's doable. In the future I suggest you implementing a "vote by mail/absentee ballot" program which will require a lot of work to setup but is reliable and used by many countries.
I am so disappointed. So as an overseas Pakistani, how do I vote? Or will I be on the sidelines watching the results on the news? Thanks for delaying this issue to its death.
Who cares about our vote as long as the money keeps coming in?
They are not interested in giving voting facilities to those who are running the country. What if oversees Pakistanis do not send remittances for one month?
What a heart breaking news!!
Having lived in the UK myself, one thing I can say with full confidence is that PTI is overwhelmingly popular with overseas Pakistanis.
I think this is very suspicious indeed - millions of overseas Pakistanis are being denied permission to cast their votes. I do not buy the technical issue story the fact is PPP, PML-N, PML-Q, MQM, and ANP and trying their level best to minimize PTI's chances of victory.
Cheap and dirty politics in action!