After Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Balochistan government on Wednesday supported the presidential reference seeking an opinion from the Supreme Court on open ballot for the upcoming Senate polls.

As per the statement issued by the provincial government, the Balochistan government has submitted its reply in the apex court in which they backed open ballot for Senate polls.

Earlier on January 9, the Punjab government also backed holding the Senate polls with open ballot in its reply over the Presidential reference submitted in the Supreme Court.

The government had sought opinion of the apex court if the issue could be decided without amending the constitution by introducing amendment in section 122 (vi) of the Election Act 2017.

Advocate General Punjab had submitted the provincial government’s reply to the court notice, stating that the assembly members used to vote for their personal interest violating party discipline in secret ballot, thus flouting the basic principles of democracy.