ISLAMABAD: A day after the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that upcoming senate elections would continue to be held through a secret ballot as per the constitution, the election commission said on Tuesday polls on March 3 would be held “as per past practice.”
The court’s ruling on Monday came in response to a presidential reference filed on December 23, 2020 seeking the court’s opinion on whether voting in senate elections could be held through an open ballot.
The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has argued that open balloting would introduce transparency into a voting process that has long been plagued by irregularities, with national and provincial lawmakers accused of selling their votes.
Leaders of an 11-party opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), have opposed the government’s move to try to hold senate elections through an open ballot, and one of the major parties in the alliance, the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, had filed a petition in the supreme court against a presidential election amendment ordinance.
“Due to time constraint, ensuing Senate Election scheduled for 3rd March, 2021, will be conducted as provided in the Constitution and Law as per past practice,” the election commission said in a statement.
In it’s ruling on Monday, the court had directed the election commission to use technology to check against corrupt practices in the election and “to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly, and in accordance with law and that corrupt practices are guarded against.”
Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan said it was now up to the election commission to select what method to use in the upcoming elections to check corruption.
“The ECP is bound to investigate and trace the ballot to see whether any corrupt practice occurred,” he said in a statement after the verdict, adding that the election commission was “constitutionally bound” to follow the opinion of the Supreme Court and implement it without any amendments to existing rules or legislation.
In its statement on Tuesday, the election commission said it had decided to constitute a three-member committee to gather input on the use of technology in senate elections, saying it would prepare recommendations based on the input within four weeks.
Senate elections are scheduled to be held on March 3 for 48 seats. Each member of the Upper House of the Parliament is elected for a six-year term. Half of the senate members retire after every three years and new one are elected. The house has equal representation from all four provinces.
Election Commission of Pakistan rules senate polls to be held ‘as per past practice’
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Election Commission of Pakistan rules senate polls to be held ‘as per past practice’
- On Monday supreme court said upcoming senate elections would continue to be held through a secret ballot as per the constitution
- Election commission says forming three-member committee to come up with recommendations on how to use technology to check against corruption in elections
Pakistan remembers Benazir Bhutto, first woman PM in Muslim world, on death anniversary
- Bhutto was daughter of ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged during reign of former military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
- Year before assassination in 2007, Bhutto signed landmark deal with rival Nawaz Sharif to prevent army interventions
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders on Saturday paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister in the Muslim world who was assassinated 18 years ago in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
Born on Jun. 21, 1953, Bhutto was elected premier for the first time in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996, amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement which she denied as being politically motivated.
Bhutto only entered politics after her father was hanged in 1979 during military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq’s reign. Throughout her political career, she had a complex and often adversarial relationship with the now ruling Sharif family, but despite the differences signed a ‘Charter of Democracy’ in 2006 with three-time former PM Nawaz Sharif, pledging to strengthen democratic institutions and prevent military interventions in Pakistan in the future.
She was assassinated a year and a half later.
“Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto took exemplary steps to strengthen the role of women, protect the rights of minorities, and make Pakistan a peaceful, progressive, and democratic state,” PM Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, said in a statement on Saturday.
“Her sacrifices and services are a beacon of light for the nation.”
President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, said Bhutto believed in an inclusive Pakistan, rejected sectarianism, bigotry and intolerance, and consistently spoke for the protection of minorities.
“Her vision was of a federation where citizens of all faiths could live with dignity and equal rights,” he said. “For the youth of Pakistan, her life offers a clear lesson: speak up for justice, organize peacefully and do not surrender hope in the face of adversity.”
Powerful families like the Bhuttos and the Sharifs of Pakistan to the Gandhis of India and the Bandaranaike family of Sri Lanka have long dominated politics in this diverse region since independence from British colonial rule. But none have escaped tragedy at the hands of rebels, militants or ambitious military leaders.
It was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto’s father, who founded the troubled Bhutto dynasty, becoming the country’s first popularly elected prime minister before being toppled by the army in 1977 and later hanged. Both his sons died in mysterious circumstances.
Before her assassination on Dec. 27, 2007, Bhutto survived another suicide attack on her motorcade that killed nearly 150 people as she returned to Pakistan after eight years in exile in October 2007.
Bhutto’s Oxford-educated son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, now leads her Pakistan Peoples Party, founded by her father, and was foreign minister in the last administration of PM Shehbaz Sharif.
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Bhutto’s daughter who is currently the first lady of Pakistan, said her mother lived with courage and led with compassion in life.
“Her strength lives on in every voice that refuses injustice,” she said on X.
Pakistan has been ruled by military regimes for almost half its history since independence from Britain in 1947. Both former premiers Imran Khan and the elder Sharif, Nawaz, have alleged that they were ousted by the military after they fell out with the generals. The army says it does not interfere in politics.
