Imran Khan wants voting rights for overseas Pakistanis

The PTI government is serious to award voting rights to overseas Pakistanis in next general elections due in 2023, says a senior minister.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said the government is determined to involve nine million non-resident Pakistanis in the next general elections by giving them voting rights.

"We want to give voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis," the minister tweeted.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan is keen to introduce electronic voting machines in next general elections to ensure transparency in the process.

"We want to introduce electronic voting in next general elections but the opposition is not ready for electoral reforms. We invite the opposition parties to come forward and discuss the electoral reforms to play their due role in legislation," the tweet said.

Later at a media briefing, the minister for information and broadcasting said the government has already submitted its suggestions to electoral reforms and awaiting the opposition's inputs to complete the legislation as early as possible.

"We need to take this forward at the earliest and we are optimistic to complete the legislation process in this regard," the minister said.

The minister said the government wants to develop a consensus on electoral reforms and giving voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. However, if the PML (N) and PPP have reservations over the voting rights to non-resident Pakistanis then they should clear their position in this regard.

"We are determined to give voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and if the opposition doesn't want this, they should have a clear stand on the issue," the minister said.