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Embassy starts meetings over voting mechanism

The Election Commission of Pakistan on February 14 decided to grant voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. The decision will allow 3.7 million Pakistanis living abroad to vote.

The ambassador said that the recommendations of the first meeting at the embassy were forwarded to the government in Islamabad. They will be considered by the Election Commission at its meeting. He said that all political parties have to agree on the mechanism.

There could be early hiccups if polling stations are set up at the missions because voters living in far flung areas might find it difficult to reach the missions, thus more polling stations will be needed across the UAE, Khan said.

If voting is held by postal ballot, the result of several constituencies could be delayed if the ballot is delayed in post, he said.

The third option, he said, was to allocate a separate quota for overseas Pakistanis in the national and provincial assemblies and in the Senate so that overseas Pakistanis could be elected by direct voting.

Khan said that the electoral roll will be distributed among the embassies and the ballot paper will be the same as in Pakistan.

He said that participation in voting by overseas Pakistanis would definitely positively influence election results in Pakistan. He said that the government of the UAE will facilitate the process. If the overseas Pakistani holds the passport of another country, his Pakistani nationality will be decided by the Nicop card, he said.

“Voting is a constitutional right of overseas Pakistanis and this (the decision) should have happened much earlier,” Jamil said.

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