Turnout of women vote cast: Parliamentary panel moot remains inconclusive

A multi-party parliamentary panel on Wednesday remained inconclusive on evolving consensus whether the turnout of women vote should be fixed less than 10 per cent or five per cent that would invalidate an election result in any constituency. A Sub-Committee of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms met with its Convenor Zahid Hamid, who is also minister for law, to discuss the proposals received to the Committee on Elections Bill, 2017.
On the proposals to declare any election results as null and void if a particular percentage of turnouts of women vote is not recorded, the committee members belonging to various political parties remained inconclusive. Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had a same stance insisting if the turnout of women vote cast is less than five per cent, the results should be declared null and void.
While, other political parties like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Qaumi Wattan Party, were of the opinion that the election results should be nullified if the turnout percentage is less than 10 percent. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Zahid Hamid said that the committee has so far received 600 proposals from various institutions and individuals which the committee discussed in detail. He said the Law Ministry would look at all the proposals.
He further said that a code of conduct would also be formulated for the general election observers, adding that the passes would be issued to the observers for monitoring the general election. He said the government is not banning observers to monitor the election, adding it wants that more observers come and monitor the elections to ensure transparency in the election. He further said that using of electronic and biometric machines in election depends on preparation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).