ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed has approached the Supreme Court against the amendments in the Elections Act 2017.
He made federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan respondent.
According to the petition filed on Wednesday, the former minister maintained that the government is not taking steps to give voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis.
By not facilitating overseas Pakistanis, the government is depriving expatriates from exercising their right to vote, he said.
Soon after coming into the power, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz led government reversed the amendments introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government in the election laws allowing the overseas Pakistanis.
In his application, Rasheed requested the court to “declare the amendment in section 94 of the Elections Act, 2017 (Act XXXIII of 2017) vide section 3 of the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act X of 2022) as unconstitutional and void ab initio.”
He also requested the apex court to issue direction “to the respondents to take necessary steps which effectuate / allow the Overseas Pakistanis to cast vote before the next General Elections, in the interest of equity and justice.”
Earlier this month, former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan also challenged the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022 in the Supreme Court.
In his petition filed in the apex court on Monday, former prime minister urged the court to declare the government’s decision to take back the voting rights of overseas Pakistanis.
The court should order the National Database and Regulatory Authority to create a mechanism for the voting of overseas Pakistanis.
Before that, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also dismissed a petition against the constitutional amendment on the voting procedure for overseas Pakistanis citing it as inadmissible.
Controversy surrounding Elections Amendment (Act) 2022
On May 26, the parliament had passed ‘The Elections (Amendment) Act 2022’ which has bound the Election Commission (EC) to run Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) pilot projects in bye-elections to “assess the technical efficacy, secrecy, security and financial feasibility of the EVMs.”
When the bill was sent to President Arif Alvi, he refused to give his assent to the bill and returned it unsigned, a requirement to enact the bill into a law.
Later on, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, in order to bypass requirement to seek the president’s approval, called the joint session of the Parliament and got the bills approved by it including the Elections Amendment (Act) 2022.
