PM invites opposition for talks on electoral reforms

ISLAMABAD, JUN 30 (DNA) – Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited the opposition parties for talks on electoral reforms.

Speaking at the National Assembly budget session, a day after the government passed the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, the PM said that the electronic voting machines (EVM) were the only way to make the election process transparent. He said, “We have to take this step today to prevent further allegations of fraud. I urge the opposition that elections are a problem for Pakistan and the government is ready to listen if the opposition has proposals for electoral reforms.” 

He said the opposition had not, so far, responded to the reforms proposed by the government and also stressed that the use of EVM was important to check the irregularities that take place at the close of the voting process. He, however, said that if the opposition has some other suggestions on electoral reforms, we are ready to listen to them.

He said as the country was about to take off economically that suddenly the coronavirus pandemic raised its head. He said Pakistan had managed to successfully come out of the critical phase of its history because of the smart lockdowns the government imposed contrary to other countries of the world where strict lockdowns ruined those countries economies.

“The reason why we remained successful was that we opened small industries, construction and agriculture sectors early; distributed amounts among millions of people under the Ihsas Programme so that the country could stand back on its own feet economically,” he elaborated.

The prime minister said that the country’s imports had increased because the government was importing machinery for manufacturing goods for export.

Informing the House that Pakistan’s exports had increased by 17 percent during the last year, PM Imran said the government was concentrating on further increasing exports since the economy would grow only when there would be more exports.

The prime minister said both India and China had almost the same populations. “Both countries were equal economically around 35 years ago,” he said, and added, “But due to the policies of the Chinese leadership, today China is way ahead of India.”

Earlier today, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday indulged into a war of words during National Assembly (NA) session.

While speaking in the House, Bilawal Bhutto alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had rigged the yesterday’s votes to get federal budget 2021-22 approved. As per the rules, the NA speaker was required to count when a voice vote was challenged, he added.

He said that the budget presented by the federal government will cause economic disaster. It’s our right that all the members of the assembly should listen to the reforms presented by the opposition parties.

The entire nation had seen how Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government struggled to show its 172 members to approve the budget, he stated. Meanwhile, in his address, the FM strongly bashed PPP chairman for accusing PTI of violating parliamentary tradition. How can Bilawal challenge the legitimacy of the budget, he asked.

He said that the opposition should also respect the vote instead of only raising slogans. No one can hurt the reputation of NA speaker, he went on to say. In reaction, Bilawal Bhutto said that Qureshi criticized the party which had made him the FM and the president of the party’s Punjab wing. “I have heard Qureshi saying jiye Bhutto and agli bari, phir Zardari,” he told. = DNA

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