ISLAMABAD: Prime Minis­ter Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with the heads of parliamentary parties on Friday remained inconclusive after certain parties opposed the proposed 22nd constitutional amendment for open balloting in the upcoming Senate elections.

The main opposition PPP and the JUI-F, which is a coalition partner in the federal government, opposed the suggestion of changing the voting system from secret to open ballot at the eleventh hour.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, PPP General Secretary and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said his party was all for electoral reforms, but they should be carried out after developing a consensus among all major political parties.

PPP, JUI-F insist the move is sudden and haphazard; PTI, MQM come out in support

“Electoral reforms involve well-thought out procedures, like the PPP did during its tenure in the case of the 18th amendment. Similarly, they require a lot of legal input from experts, which takes time,” PPP Senior Vice President Sherry Rehman, who also attended the meeting, told Dawn.

“We opposed the proposal because a selective and reactive amendment cannot be considered an effective reform for something as important as the Senate. Asking for a show of hands also means depriving MPs of a conscience vote, or those who may not want to vote for property tycoons and other rich barons nominated by their party bosses,” Jan Achakzai, official spokesperson for the JUI-F, told Dawn.

The PTI and MQM have, on the other hand, supported the proposed amendment. PTI leader Dr Arif Alvi argued that as in the case of elections for the posts of PM and CM, voting on the budget and constitutional amendments, open voting could also be exercised in the Senate elections. “The amendment will help curb the trend of buying and selling votes,” he said.

MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar said his party would support any decision that would help bring transparency to electoral processes.

Addressing a press conference later in the evening, Senator Ishaq Dar said that some parties had expressed concerns over the 22nd amendment mainly over the shortage of time, as Senate elections were due to be held on March 5.

“If the proposed amendment cannot be passed because of a shortage of or any other reason… the PM has requested the heads of all political parties to have each other’s candidates elected unopposed as per their voting strength,” Mr Dar said. The government’s only objective at the moment, explained Mr Dar, was to curb horse-trading in the Senate elections.

He said that since parties required in-house consultations, “we will again meet them in a day or two to take a final decision on the issue”.

Earlier, addressing the meeting which took place at the Prime Minister’s Office, the PM said that as the upper house of parliament, the Senate was sacred and it was binding upon all political parties to preserve and enhance its sanctity and make the process of its election fully transparent.

He said that in the past too, leaders of parliamentary parties had been invited to deliberate upon important matters of national significance. The PM said that it was a matter of concern for all democratic forces in the country that the business of buying and selling parliamentarians’ votes was thriving. He urged political parties to put an end to horse-trading and save the Senate from corruption.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

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