Islamabad – Staff Reporter:
The PTI government would present a bill comprising three amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan in the Parliament next week, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said Thursday, ahead of the upcoming Senate elections.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID) in Islamabad, Babar Awan said the constitutional amendment bill proposes allowing “voting not to be hidden”.
“To date, no one ever talked about legislation to make the Senate elections fair,” the PM’s aide underscored. “For the first time in Pakistan’s history, a constitutional package for reforms has been prepared.
“The bill will introduce three amendments,” he added. “We’re using the word ‘open vote’ instead of ‘single transferable vote’.
“An amendment to Article 63-1C of the Constitution will be introduced,” he explained.
Awan mentioned that “rates” had been determined for the Senate elections but vowed to “tell everyone” about it. “The buying and selling of votes in the [upcoming] Senate elections can be stopped.
“It was agreed in the Charter of Democracy that the vote should be open and recognisable. In order to stop horse trading, the Opposition parties should unite and consider the amendment as a national agenda,” he stressed.
The premier’s aide also spoke of the anti-government coalition under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) banner, saying two of the parties in it had “openly said they will break up the Balochistan government”.
“Governments do not go as a result of bad prayers but through a no-confidence motion under a constitutional procedure,” he said. “The transparency report is another proof of the PML-N’s corruption.”
