Overseas Pakistanis can still vote for Parliament. And they exercise this right in every elections. However, the previous government had made a change in law. The law was made to allow the non-resident Pakistanis to vote through the Electronic Voting Machines from their respective embassy or high commission in their country of residence.
Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development did clarify that voting right of non-resident Pakistanis is intact. Mr. Sajid Hussain Turi said, “Overseas Pakistanis are not deprived of their voting right.” He rebutted all the misinformation circulating on media that overseas Pakistanis are deprived of their voting rights. He said that this is baseless and misleading, we are working for a better solution for expatriates.
The government is formulating a new plan to create seats for expatriates in National Assembly by establishing special constituencies in the respective countries. So they can choose representatives from within the countries to be elected and represent them in the government.
New Electoral Law
He spoke about the new voting mechanism with this new law. Mr.Turi compared to the direct voting with the new system. The government believe that this new plan will give more strength and weightage to their vote. The representative will be accountable to the overseas in those countries and work for their welfare.
The federal minister said overseas Pakistanis are playing a key role in the progress of the country. He further said that the Govt is motivated and taking concrete steps for the purpose. Soon the government is giving good news, proposing a better option for the compatriots living abroad.
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The new government had continuously shown its opposition to the law passed by the previous government. There was a view that the law was focusing on the majority support of overseas Pakistanis for a single party, i.e. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Thus, the law was amended to ensure the approval of all political parties across Pakistan.
