Alvi for expediting electoral reforms

Islamabad : President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday said that it was the national obligation of political parties and stakeholders to jointly work for strengthening the electoral system in the country.

He emphasised the need for expediting the electoral reforms process so as to grant Overseas Pakistanis their political rights besides making the electoral process more transparent, secure and impartial. The President made these remarks during a meeting with Minister for Science and Technology Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain, Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T), Syed Amin-ul-Haque, and Advisor to PM on Parliamentary Affairs, Zaheer-ud-Din Babar Awan to discuss the electoral reforms process here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The meeting discussed various proposals with regard to improving the electoral laws and emphasized the need for evolving consensus among political parties and other stakeholders to take forward the reforms process. Referring to the Elections Act 2017, the President said that the said Act was supported by all political parties for strengthening the democratic process, and this time, the leadership of various political parties also needed to demonstrate the same spirit of cooperation for the sake of political rights of citizens through a fair electoral process within the country by opting for Electronic Voting Machines and also facilitating the Overseas Pakistanis through Internet-voting.

The President remarked that he was ready to reach out to all political parties to take them on board for improving the current electoral laws. He urged the need to rise above the political differences and jointly work for the fundamental political rights of the people of the country.