• ECP authorised to seek technical help to enable overseas Pakistanis to cast their votes
• Govt confident of securing parliamentary nod to ordinance within 120 days
• ECP warns of serious repercussions if law is passed in haste
ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a hasty move, the government on Saturday promulgated a presidential ordinance authorising and binding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to procure electronic voting machines (EVMs) and to enable the overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote while staying in their country of residence in the next general elections.
President Arif Alvi promulgated the Elections (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2021 under Article 89 of the Constitution only two days after National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had constituted a committee of the cabinet members to engage the opposition on the issue of electoral reforms.