FAFEN urges government to hold referendum on use of EVMs
National
May 12, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has urged the government to desist from any haste in introducing the changes to the Elections Act, 2017, particularly the adaption of electronic voting and biometric machines.
It also called for a broader public debate and political discourse on the much-needed electoral reforms. The network said unless structural and systemic issues compromising the integrity and credibility of the election processes and its outcomes are not addressed, democracy will continue to gasp for breath.
Instead of identifying solutions before an evidence-based diagnosis of maladies ailing elections and their outcomes, and as a result of democratic consolidation in Pakistan, FAFEN urges the political parties to go back to the basics, asking them to work together towards establishing an election system that can guarantee the attainment of the constitutional preamble, which says that the will of the people of Pakistan shall establish an order wherein the state shall exercise its powers and authority through the chosen representatives of the people.