Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that a joint session of parliament scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed.
The joint session had been called by the government to pass the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance (Amendment) Bill and electoral reforms bill.
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, the minister said electoral reforms were connected to the country's future and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser would hold talks with the opposition over the issue.
"We are working in good faith to reach a consensus on this issue. In this regard, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has once again been asked to get in touch with the opposition so that a bill on electoral reforms can be introduced," he said.
He added the joint session of Parliament was being postponed for this reason. "We hope that the opposition will seriously consider these crucial reforms so that we can come up with a strategy for the country's future," he said, adding that the government will not back down from poll reforms until this happens.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that over the past 50 years, Pakistan has failed to conduct free, fair, and transparent elections that are acceptable to all parties.
Pakistan has failed to conduct free, fair elections in past 50 years: PM Imran
About the need for introducing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), he said that the government sought help from the opposition on how reforms could be introduced for EVMs.
Khan said that people who benefit from the corrupt system are opposing the use of EVMs for their vested interests.
He said that the EVM is being introduced to end allegations of rigging in elections. He added that there are certain elements who are against such reforms for their own personal interests. "The EVMs will not benefit the government in any way as the only purpose of introducing these machines is to make the polls transparent," he maintained.
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