ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition announced on Monday that it would challenge "controversial" reforms proposed by the government about the use of electronic voting machines and granting autonomy to the central bank among others in the Supreme Court.  

The government has convened a joint session of parliament on Wednesday to get the draft bills passed with the help of its allied parties. The 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance has been opposing the bill for the use of e-voting machines, which the government says is vital to free and fair elections in the country.  

The alliance has formed a three-member committee to look into legal aspects of the proposed laws and prepare suggestions to challenge them in the apex court.  

“The controversial government laws will be challenged in the Supreme Court,” the PDM said in a statement, after a virtual meeting headed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman.  

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif was also part of the meeting, along with heads of other opposition parties.  

The PDM said it had discussed the draft bills regarding the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), State Bank of Pakistan, and e-voting machines and other electoral reforms in detail, and a steering committee would finalise suggestions in this regard by November 22.  

The committee would also finalize a date for a "decisive long march" against the government ahead of a meeting of PDM party heads on November 23.  

“Expressing concerns, the meeting strongly condemned the fact that state institutions were forcing coalition partners to help the government with the legislation,” the PDM statement read. “The PDM doesn’t accept this interference of the state institutions and terms this a violation of the constitution.”  

The alliance urged the institutions to remain in their constitutional ambit and “don’t test patience of the public.”  

It also criticized the government for its failure to control inflation in the country, amid skyrocketing of prices of edible items including sugar, flour and ghee.  

“The meeting expressed resolve to move forward with a robust strategy and clarity of mind to steer Pakistan and the public out of the crises,” the statement added.