ISLAMABAD: The Peoples Party has poured cold water on the ruling PML-N’s decision to amend the Constitution to allow senators’ election through show of hands, saying it is too late for such an action.

Talking informally to reporters at the Parliament House on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah said he had been approached by two ministers on the government’s move and he had advised them to raise the matter at the electoral reforms committee.

Know more: PML-N for Senate polls by show of hands

He said it was “impossible” to amend the Constitution when the Senate elections were just a week away.

Meanwhile, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari said in a statement that electoral rigging and horse-trading lay at the root of “manipulated power transfer” and needed to be addressed in a holistic manner instead of looking for piecemeal solutions.

On Monday, the PML-N decided to introduce a major constitutional amendment bill proposing the coming Senate elections be held through show of hands instead of secret balloting. Presiding over a meeting of the federal cabinet, the prime minister had constituted two committees for contacting various political parties to pave way for the amendment.

The decision to change the mode of voting, according to sources in the PML-N, has largely been taken to avert a possible embarrassment, notably in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where some lawmakers have refused to follow the party line vis-à-vis the Senate elections.

Mr Zardari said it was good that the government appeared to have realised that horse-trading had done great disservice to the parliament and political process.

“One hopes that the apparent realisation on part f the government to curb horse-trading will not be a political gimmickry but a first step towards comprehensive electoral reforms,” he added. He said if the government was serious, it should invite all political parties to decide on how best to prevent electoral rigging not only in the Senate but also in the National Assembly, provincial assemblies and local bodies.

“We recently witnessed the near breakdown of civilian and political structures due to demonstrations and protests against fraud and rigging in the 2013 general elections,” the former president said.

He recalled that the parliament and the government had been saved from total collapse through unprecedented unity and commitment of political parties, “but it should not pull us into believing that charges of electoral fraud will not rear their ugly heads in future”.

“Electoral reforms and preventing horse-trading should be addressed by all parties together and not by the government alone. The government should, therefore, convene a meeting of all political parties to curb horse-trading in Senate elections as well as electoral fraud and rigging of all types, including those recently agitated by Imran Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf,” he suggested.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2015

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