Belgium EV system is suitable for Pakistan
Unfortunately, Ministry of Science and Technology and IT Ministry don’t know the mystery and myth of the EVMs in depth, its system not machines.
I have studied the Belgium electoral system in depth, the Belgium electronic voting system is suitable if it’s adopted in consultation with Chairman NADRA and Information Technology of Election Commission of Pakistan.
Prime minister struck a conciliatory tone towards the opposition in his speech in the National Assembly when he requested them to cooperate in agreeing on a set of electoral reforms so that future elections could become non-controversial.
It is a rare, and well-come sight to see the pm reaching out to the opposition for a larger cause.
For the first time, Prime Minister of Pakistan himself on the floor of the house has invited the opposition to sit with the government on electoral reforms to hold objection-free general election.
Time has come that when electoral battle is on, no one worries about being defeated through rigging. The only solution is EVMs.
The matter of electoral reforms requires the highest priority by Parliament and Election Commission of Pakistan.
The government blundered by bulldozing electoral bill through the National Assembly and was rightly chastised by the opposition and the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Only belatedly did the government realise, it seems, that many of the proposed reforms in the bill went contrary to constitutional requirements and could have been challenged in the Supreme Court.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has done some work on it and various pilot projects should be launched in order to meet the EVMs .
The opposition should approach the matter with an open mind instead of needlessly turning it into a controversy.
It’s my considered opinion that Government took U-turn as Military Establishment called for avoiding of divisive politics on issues of national interest as they cautioned that strategic challenges and related policy shift in external relations could have repercussions for the country.
It’s surprising that Ministry of Information Technology and Science and Technology are not taking into confidence the ECP as Belgium government is not using I voting and they were using it for some time in the year 2005 but they stopped after 2009, but they are manufacturing EVMs and supplying to some countries.
The government is not interested to make dialogue with opposition and has been its refusal to engage the opposition.
On both sides they’ve adopted a confrontational attitude from the very start and this led to a breakdown of a functional relationship between the two sides.
The roots of the rivalry may go deep, but the rivals can at least sit across the table and start engaging with each other on the matter of electoral reforms.
The Prime Minister has taken a positive step and the opposition should reach out and accept the gesture for its sincerity and on the other hand government should defer the process of electoral reforms bill in the Senate and remove the reservations of Election Commission of Pakistan.
—The writer is former Federal Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan and currently Chairman National Democratic Foundation.
