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ISLAMABAD – The treasury and the opposition on Friday in the Senate traded barbs over the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to hold the next general elections days after the ruling PTI and the Election Commission of Pakistan were seen poles apart over the issue.
The treasury lawmakers claimed that the use of EVMs in the election was indispensable to ensure transparency while the opposition cast doubts that this technology would be used to rig the election and called EVMs as “rigging machines”.
It all started when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan winding up the debate on President’s address to the joint sitting of the parliament criticized the opposition for identifying flaws in the idea of EVMs and the conduct of Senate elections through open voting.
He said that the opposition was only opposing the idea instead of giving any positive suggestions to bring electoral reforms to ensure transparency in the election. “EVM is the way forward,” he said.
Referring to the recent visit of a Senate delegation to Russia to observe polls, the minister of state underlined that technology had been used in these elections.
He also claimed the country was flourishing in agricultural field and said the bumper wheat crop this year set a new record.
Leader of the House in the Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem also defended the idea of introducing EVMs. He said that they couldn’t move forward without technology. “It is necessary for transparency”. He said the government also desired to make overseas Pakistanis part of the electoral process enabling them to vote from their country of residence through I-voting system.
He invited the opposition to give suggestions for making the system more transparent, instead of blindly opposing technology.
Senator Waseem viewed that the country produced a record 21.3 million tonnes of wheat, but said it had to import more food staple to meet the local needs due to ever-increasing population.
PTI Senator Faisal Javed also said that use of EVMs in the next elections was “inevitable.” He said it was the parliament’s right to legislate and the ECP should work within its mandate that is to conduct free, fair and transparent polls under the law.
Parliamentary Leader of PPP in the Senate Sherry Rehman in her response accused the government of making an effort to rig the election through the use of technology.
She also criticized the ministers for giving wrong facts on different issues and for their onslaught against ECP.
“The speeches the ministers gave today have painted a bizarrely inaccurate picture of the unprecedented and harsh ground reality. We are facing a terrible economic crisis in real terms on the ground with spiralling food prices but here we are told Pakistani agriculture is booming,” she said. “There is no respite in sight for the average citizen whose disposable income has shrunk alarmingly,” she remarked.
Senator Rehman said it was for the first time in the country’s history that wheat was being imported at a shocking $383.50 per metric ton. “For a country which was once self-sufficient in wheat production during PPP’s government, it’s a shame that we are importing it now and that too at such exorbitant rates.”
She called for summoning the joint session on Afghanistan and said, “There’s a humanitarian disaster unfolding in Afghanistan. What is our strategy for the spill over in Pakistan? A unified position could help Pakistan effectively tackle challenges that could arise because of the evolving situation in Afghanistan as what happens in Afghanistan does not stay in Afghanistan.”
“This government is on a collision course against democracy, media, and its very own people. The PTI government has been ignoring the signs of a crumbling economy only to boost their image and take credit for projects which they have not even initiated,” she said.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Saadia Abbasi also raised objection over the use of EVMs and asked, “How can we trust a technology, the control of which is in your hands”.
During the question-hour session, Minister for Aviation Division Ghulam Sarwar Khan expressed hopes that the European Union’s restrictions on state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be lifted this year.
On July 2020, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had suspended PIA from operating flights in the EU member states due to safety concerns.
The minister said that all its reservations had been addressed and its audit team would visit Pakistan in November.
He told the house that the present government has succeeded to reduce huge financial losses of PIA from Rs 67.32 billion to Rs 34.64 billion in the last three years.
Responding to supplementary questions, he said that PIA’s financial losses were Rs 67.32 billion in 2018, which were reduced to Rs 52.60 billion in 2019 and Rs 34.64 billion in 2020.