Islamabad: The National Assembly on Thursday passed "The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022" to conduct pilot projects in bye-elections before using I-Voting and Electronic Voting Machines in the general elections.

Speaking on the occasion in the House, the Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar rejected the impression that the amendment is aimed at depriving overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote.

He said overseas Pakistanis are precious asset of the country and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote.

Regarding use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), the Law Minister said we are not against use of technology, but we have concerns about misuse of technology as Results Transmission System had failed in last general elections to favour a particular political party.

He said the Election Commission of Pakistan had also expressed its inability to hold elections through I-Voting and EVMs in a short span of time and without proper homework.

He said two amendments are being brought to revive the Elections Act 2017, enabling the ECP to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections.

Under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017, the Commission may conduct pilot projects for voting by Overseas Pakistanis in bye-elections to ascertain the technical efficacy, secrecy, security, and financial feasibility of such voting and shall share the results with the government, which shall, within 15 days from the commencement of a session of a House after the receipt of the report, lay the same before both Houses of the Parliament.

Under Amendment in Section 103 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP may conduct pilot projects for utilization of EVMs and biometric verification system in the bye-elections.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz Ahmed has said the Assembly should complete its tenure and elections should be held on time.

Responding to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's remarks, he assured that the opposition will play its positive and constructive role in running affairs of the House.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while speaking on the floor of the House, congratulated Raja Riaz Ahmed for becoming Leader of the Opposition.

He assured the Leader of the Opposition of his government's full cooperation in running business of the House in an amicable manner.

The Prime Minister said the treasury benches will pay utmost attention to the speech of the Leader of the Opposition by burying the bad traditions of the past.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice, Minister of State for Interior, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju assured the House to make every possible effort for the maintenance of government accommodations in Sector G-6 and F-6 of Islamabad.

Quetta: The opposition in Balochistan Assembly failed to table the no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo after its failure to grab the support of required lawmakers.

According to details, the motion couldn’t even be tabled after it failed to get the support of the 20 percent of the house members - 13 members in the 65-members house.

The session started with Deputy Speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail in the chair who asked former provincial minister Mir Zahoor Buledi to read out the motion.

After the motion was read, Musakhial asked the members in support of the motion to raise their hands. Only 11 members voted in favor of the motion.

The motion against Bizenjo was in the provincial assembly on Monday last week with the support of some lawmakers from his own party.

The motion was signed by 14 members, including Bizenjo’s predecessor Jam Kamal of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

The motion was presented by PTI parliamentary leader Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind.

It is to be noted here that Abdul Quddus Bizenjo was elected as the Chief Minister of Balochistan after the provincial assembly passed a motion of no-confidence against former chief minister Jam Kamal Khan a few months ago in October 2021.

Davos: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday emphasized that Pakistan and Iran should tap the existing vast scope in bilateral trade and economic cooperation through various institutional mechanisms and innovative ways to identify new sectors.

The foreign minister, in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Dr. Hossein Amir Abdollahian, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to strengthen Pak-Iran fraternal ties in all areas of mutual interest.

He underscored the importance of the earliest completion of border markets to improve livelihood in the border region.

The foreign minister appreciated Iran’s steadfast support for the Kashmir cause, especially at the Supreme Leader level.

Foreign Minister Bilawal also thanked Foreign Minister Abdollahian for sending an Iranian aircraft to Pakistan which helped in extinguishing the forest fire in Balochistan.

In the context of the situation in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari noted that as neighbours, Pakistan and Iran had been closely coordinating.

He underlined that sustained engagement between the international community and the Interim Afghan government was critical to advance shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Abdollahian extended an invitation to the foreign minister to undertake a visit to Iran.

SOURCE: APP