Senate polls to be held through secret ballot, rules apex court
SC order says ECP could ‘use the latest technology to ensure the holding of transparent elections’ under powers granted to it, according to Article 218 of the Constitution
The Supreme Court on Monday said the March 3 Senate elections will be held through secret ballot.
The 4-1 majority opinion was announced by a five-member larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and including Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi. Justice Afridi dissented.
The apex court said that Senate elections are held in accordance with the law and the Constitution. “It is the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to protect the election from corruption.”
It said the parliament can pass constitutional amendments and emphasised that all institutions were bound to follow the ECP.
The bench said that the secrecy of the ballot papers, however, was “not final,” quoting a decision by the Supreme Court on the same in 1967 (Niaz Ahmed case).
The order also said that the ECP could “use the latest technology to ensure the holding of transparent elections” under powers granted to it according to Article 218 of the Constitution. Talking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed termed the opinion a “splendid decision” and a “victory for Pakistan.” He said he was grateful to the court for listening to everyone.
“The atorney general’s team worked hard and great arguments were done. Such a detailed discussion on the Senate has not happened before.”
He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan had made efforts to end corruption from every level, including bringing an end to “bribery, thievery and buying and selling” in the Senate elections.
Talking about the court’s opinion, Javed said the court has instructed the ECP to work on matters including proportional representation and take measures against corruption in elections. He said that when elections are held through identifiable ballots, no one would dare to sell their vote. “This is a splendid opinion for transparency,” he stressed. He said ater the court’s opinion, the ECP would have to ensure three things: identifiable ballots, proportional representation and free and transparent elections.
As the Senate elections are being held on Wednesday, Imran has cancelled all his official engagements and decided to directly supervise the campaign of the PTI for the electoral exercise.
Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh, PTI candidate for a seat from Islamabad, has started canvassing for the election and went door to door to meet members of National Assembly in Parliament Lodges of Islamabad.
The government has again levelled allegations of corruption and misuse of authority against former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for the Islamabad seat.
An official said that the prime minister would directly supervise the PTI’S campaign for the Senate polls and meet MPS of allied parties.
A tough contest between Gilani and Shaikh is expected on a Senate seat for Islamabad. The National Assembly is the Electoral College for the seat and an interesting session of the house will be held on March 3 in which voting for the two candidates will take place.
Meanwhile, the absence of the mutahidda qaumi Movement-pakistan (MQM-P) from an important PTI reception in Karachi has raised eyebrows of many, particularly ater Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhuto-zardari claimed that the MQM-P would support PDM candidate in the Senate polls. However, MQM-P leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haq said his party did not atend the reception due to its own engagements. He categorically said the MQM-P would support the PTI and allied parties in the polls.
He said the co-ordination commitee of the MQM-P met on Sunday and discussed Senate elections. “The details of the meeting will be shared with the media later,” he said.
Federal Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz said the nation knew well who stood on which side of history on the issue of transparency in the electoral system.
In a series of tweets, the minister said the opposition supported the system based on rigging and a hurdle in the way of transparency, while Imran stood firm with his unwavering commitment to transparency in the electoral process.