Overseas Pakistanis: Sarwar says opposition parties to be persuaded on right to vote

LAHORE: Suggesting reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies for Overseas Pakistanis, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said on Monday that they would try to reach a consensus with the opposition parties on the issue of giving the right of vote to overseas Pakistanis.

While addressing a news conference along with Provincial Information Advisor Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Vice Chairman Overseas Commission Punjab Wasim Ramey and others at Governor House, the governor said that the Overseas Commission Punjab has resolved 10,000 complaints of overseas Pakistanis in two years, and recovered land worth 25 million from land grabbers, and handed them over to overseas Pakistanis.

Answering a question, the governor said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision not to give any airbase to the United States is not due to any pressure from the opposition parties but only to safeguard the national interest. As far as Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s statement is concerned, everyone knows that nobody can pressurise PM Imran Khan, he added.

He further said that the scope of the Overseas Commission Punjab is now being extended to Tehsil level so that the problems of Overseas Pakistanis can be solved expeditiously. He further said that he also thanked the incumbent and former chief justice of Lahore High Court who appointed special judges for cases of overseas Pakistanis due to which these cases are being settled within six months.

Muhammad Wasim Ramey, Vice Chairman, Overseas Commission Punjab, said that District Overseas Pakistanis Committees have been formed in 29 districts for redressal of grievances of Overseas Pakistanis.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021