Govt Committed To Give Voting Right To Overseas Pakistanis: Shibli

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz Thursday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was committed to give right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis as it was also part of the party's election manifesto

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jun, 2021 ) :Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz Thursday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was committed to give right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis as it was also part of the party's election manifesto.

Taking part in the budget debate in the Senate, the minister said legislation must be carried out for granting voting right to the expatriates, who were greatly contributing towards the country's economic growth through record remittances.

The government had brought an electoral reforms bill, which was unfortunately opposed by the opposition, he added.

Shibli Faraz said that government was sincerely working for the progress and prosperity of the country. It had successfully achieved all the economic targets in the outgoing fiscal year, which was the start of a golden era for the country's economy, he added.

The minister said the government had controlled the COVID-19 pandemic and adopted proactive policies to save the people's lives and their livelihoods also.

He said the Ehsaas Programme was specially initiated with the aim to provide relief to the poor people.

On the contrary, he said, the previous incompetent regimes had caused huge losses to the national exchequer, besides inducting employees in government institutions on the basis of nepotism and without merit, he added.

The previous rulers, he said, had transferred trillions of rupees abroad to purchase properties there. There was no precedent in the world that a prime minister was doing business, he added.

When they (opposition leaders) were questioned about corruption (done by them while in government, they termed it 'political victimization', he added.

He proposed that legislators from across the isle should sit together and seek ways to deal with issues facing the country, like rising population etc.

They should also develop consensus on bringing electoral reforms, he said. The electoral system could be improved by introducing the electronic voting, he added.

Shibli said Prime Minister Imran Khan had always stated that "we should use Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to bring transparency in the elections system".

Since 1971, he said, every election held in the country became controversial. Legislation was carried out many times, but the main issue of transparency was not addressed, he added.