Pakistan vows to introduce electronic voting in polls despite opposition, election commission reservations

ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistani ministers on Friday accused their country’s election body of playing politics while responding to its objection to the use of electronic voting machines, saying the government would do everything to introduce these devices to ensure free and fair elections.
Electoral reform has become a hot-button issue in Pakistan where political parties frequently raise rigging allegations against their rivals.
The government says it wants to address the problem by allowing electronic voting in the next general elections in October 2023, though the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the opposition parties maintain that technology alone cannot ensure free, fair and transparent polls in the country.
“Be ready the opposition and the election commission,” said the country’s railway minister Azam Khan Swati during a news conference in Islamabad. “We’ll defeat you through parliament and roll out this technology much before the 2023 polls. The use of technology is vital for fair and free elections.”
Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also questioned the “attitude” of the chief election commissioner while asking him to “stop playing in the hands of small political parties.”
“The election commission has raised silly objections over the EVMs and played politics over the issue,” Hussain told the media gathering.
“It seems that the ECP has become the mouthpiece of the opposition,” he added.
The information minister said it was not right for the election body to publicly address any issues related to the voting machines even if it had objections or wanted their upgradation.
The ECP addressed a letter to parliament earlier this week wherein it said the voting machines were prone to tampering and their software could be easily hacked.
In a parliamentary meeting on Friday, Swati accused the commission of “always rigging the polls,” adding such institutions should be “set on fire.”
“Parliament has the right to make laws and no country allows the integrity of its elected members to be questioned,” Hussain continued. “The elected members of parliament will decide what kind of system they want to introduce.”
The information minister noted that Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered the opposition to come up with suggestions for electoral reforms through legislation in parliament.
“We have invited them to discuss electoral reforms with us … Now it seems the election commission has become the headquarter of the opposition parties,” he said.
Hussain also criticized the opposition for making the legislation for the use of the voting machines controversial through their “irresponsible statements.”
“The prime minister wants that nobody should question the authenticity and transparency of the elections,” he added. “Therefore, we want to use the latest technology [while holding elections],” he added.