ISLAMABAD: Supporting the presidential reference on Senate elections, the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments have urged the Supreme Court to rule that the federal government/parliament is empowered to undertake requisite amendments in the Election Act, 2017, and introduce voting through open ballot in the upcoming Senate election.
The Supreme Court on January 4th issued notice to the Speakers of the national and provincial assemblies, chairman Senate, chairman Election Commission of Pakistan, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), and advocates general of all the provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
AGP Khalid Jawed Khan and the chief law officers of the provinces and the ICT were directed to file written submission within one week.
The bench also ordered the publication of the notice in the newspapers for the information of all the concerned people regarding the reference, so that any party interested may also file a written synopsis.
A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Yahya Afridi on Monday will resume hearing on the reference regarding holding of Senate election through "open ballot".
The KP and Punjab governments in pursuance of the SC direction filed synopses on the reference. The AGP will file written submission on Monday. KP Advocate General Shumail Butt, who submitted the provincial government's stance on the reference, stated that the KP government believed that Parliament can affect an amendment in Section 122(6) of Election Act, 2017, and thereby, change the mode and manner to an entirely different process and may opt for "open ballot" or any variant thereof.
He stated that the voting for the Senate election cannot be compared with a general election.
"In a general election, the electors have to vote in a secret manner without fear that their votes would be disclosed to anyone or would result in victimisation.
"There is no legally binding party affiliation and hence, the choice is entirely with the voter.
"This is not the case when elections are held for the Senate, as the electors are elected members of the national as well as provincial assemblies who in turn have party affiliations.
"It cannot be said that the concept of open ballot would defeat the attainment of free and fair elections.
"Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa therefore sees great advantage if senate elections are held through a system of open balloting," he said.
Advocate General of Punjab Ahmed Awais said unlike a citizen voting in a direct election to the assemblies, the elected MPs have no privilege or justification to claim secrecy of their choice made through the ballot.
"Thus, the parliamentarians who do not wish to toe party lines should tender their resignations rather than indulging in the practice of 'vote selling'.
"It is submitted that by an amendment in Section 122(6) of Election Act, 2017, the election to the Senate can be conducted through an open ballot.
"The framers of the Constitution could not have possibly predicted the current predicament that the country is stuck in today, i.e., trying to get rid of vote buying menace in the Senate electoral process. "Hence, the evolving nature of the political system demands that the election to the Senate is held in a free, fair, and transparent manner without any iota of corruption and malpractice.
"If the secrecy leads to corruption then sunlight and transparency has the capacity to remove it," he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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