Karachi: Presidential reference has been filed in the Supreme Court for open ballot instead of the secret ballot in Senate elections.
This Presidential reference states that past senate elections have not been held under the Constitution, while next year’s Senate elections may be held through an open ballot.
A Statement by the Press Information Department said that the president approved Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal to send a reference to the apex court under Article 186 of the Constitution.
The Proposal to seek the apex court’s opinion under
Article 186 of the Constitution was given by Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan.
He also said that if section 122(6) of the Elections Act, 2017 was amended through an ordinance before the commencement of the election schedule by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the elections would not be a secret ballot, it could be held through the open ballot.
It should be noted that the Presidential reference regarding the Senate election has been filed by President Arif Alvi in the Supreme Court on the suggestion of the Prime Minister.
The Reference also seeks to amend the clause on a secret ballot in the relevant law without amending the constitution. In this reference, it is stated that the Senate Election System will boost through open ballot election, however, after the secret ballot, many questions could be raised.
