Tuesday, October 09, 2007
By Mumtaz Alvi
ISLAMABAD: There appears no serious movement in the government circles at present to push for giving the right of franchise to over 7.1 million overseas Pakistanis despite the fact that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz recently hinted at the possibility.
As the Election Commission (EC) gives final touches to the computerised electoral rolls for general election expected to be held in early 2008, it has not been contacted to weigh this very option.
“We have not received any proposal in this connection,” said the EC Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad when The News sought his comments on the matter. Premier Aziz last month said that the government was considering the possibility of granting voting rights to the Pakistanis living abroad.
The secretary explained that if a proposal came from the government, the EC would give it a serious consideration. When this correspondent sought views of a constitutional expert, he pointed out for this purpose, a piece of legislation would have to be enacted, as presently, this right was only for the government servants, working abroad.
“The existing laws do not provide for the facility of postal ballot to overseas Pakistanis, as these laws do not have extra-territorial application. Postal ballot facility is only for the government servants,” he noted.
The issue is not new one, from time to time, it has been raised, particularly by the Pakistanis, living in the Gulf countries, Britain and the United States. However, so far, no progress could be made on this count.
Two Pakistanis, Ms Yasmeen Khan and Asif Khan, who lived in Britain, through a petition to the Supreme Court (SC) in 1993, had sought the apex court’s intervention, contending under Article 17 of the Constitution, their fundamental rights were being violated, as they continued to be deprived of voting right.
The SC full bench, comprising Justice Dr Nasim Hasan Shah, Justice Shafiur Rehman, Justice Abdul Qadir, Justice Ajmal Mian and Justice Fazal Elahi had asked the government as well as the Election Commission to weigh the option of granting right of franchise to overseas Pakistanis.
The court had noted that the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand had already given this right to their overseas citizens. However, the SC noted that the provisions on the subject contained in other comparable federal institutions may be examined and appropriate steps be taken to facilitate the eligible Pakistanis to exercise this right.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=75345
