ISLAMABAD, July 21: The Election Commission has no plan to extend the facility of casting vote to the overseas Pakistanis in the forthcoming elections, sources told Dawn.
The plan has been shelved in view of the expected reaction from the Gulf countries which are averse to any kind of political activity on their soil.
The plan of extending voting facility to expatriates was first drawn up by the PML government but it was found unpracticable. The Election Commission, however, extended the facility to expatriates in the recently-held presidential referendum.
According to a report prepared by the Foreign Office, if the facility of voting was extended to the expatriates who were 1.5 million in number, it would create diplomatic problems for the country.
Under the existing rules only Pakistani nationals serving in diplomatic missions can exercise their right of vote through the postal ballot system.
The Election Commission, headed by Justice Fakhr Alam, had carried out an extensive exercise to grant right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis.
After examining various systems, the Election Commission had expressed the “optimism” that granting of voting right to overseas Pakistanis was possible.
The Foreign Office has informed the Election Commission that there are about 15,41,932 Pakistanis over 21 years of age living in 76 countries of the world.
The Foreign Office informed the Election Commission that all the Pakistani missions abroad were unanimous in their views that electioneering in foreign countries must be avoided as it would divide the already polarized Pakistani community in the Gulf and other countries.
Some of the missions have expressed the view that the exercise of the right of franchise by expatriates had been found practicable only by those countries where elections were held on the basis of proportional representation.
For countries where constituency-based electoral system is in vogue like in Pakistan, it was difficult to extend the right of vote even through the postal ballot system, the missions said.
India and Bangladesh, after carrying out similar exercise, had also shelved such plans.
The Election Commission was also informed that in countries where expatriate Pakistanis were in large number, services of computer operators would be needed at least for six months to collect data for registration of votes.
The Foreign Office also informed the Election Commission that complete record of expatriates was not available with the Pakistani missions.
