THE government has tabled a bill in the National Assembly to change the voting mechanism in the Senate elections from secret to open balloting but the opposition has blocked voting on the bill in this session. The government on Wednesday presented the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill which also seeks to give dual nationals the right to contest elections.

The bill elicited a strong reaction from the opposition benches and the proceedings of the Assembly on Wednesday and Thursday were marred by fracas, sloganeering and pandemonium. Prime Minister Imran Khan has stated in the past also that Senate elections should have open voting so that corruption is eliminated from the process. One example of senators voting against their parties was witnessed in the no-confidence vote against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. The vote was defeated even though the opposition had a clear majority. It is an open secret that candidates for the upper house have to spend huge amounts of money to buy votes from members of the provincial assemblies who constitute their electoral college.

It is the responsibility of all political parties to bring about reforms that can eliminate this practice of vote buying in the Senate. However, the way that the government has gone about doing this is unfortunate. It has launched parallel initiatives in the Supreme Court as well as parliament to change the system of voting without making a substantive effort to build a consensus on this reform. The Supreme Court is hearing the case and has yet to issue a verdict. It is strange that without waiting for the court to announce a judgement, the government tried to get a vote in the National Assembly. In addition, the government knew fully well that it did not have the numbers to push through a constitutional amendment.

This is why this entire exercise appears geared towards gaining political mileage by pointing out that the opposition does not want to legislate on reform which, the government feels, can eliminate corruption in the Senate electoral process. By needlessly politicising the issue, the government has wasted an opportunity to bring about legislation through a detailed process of debate, discussion and consensus. Whenever optics take the place of genuine objectives, the outcome is always disappointing.

It would be advisable for the government to abandon unnecessary haste, engage the opposition in a meaningful consultation for a comprehensive set of electoral reforms, including the mode of voting for the Senate, and forge a consensus that benefits the system as a whole. The aim should be to have this comprehensive reform legislated before the next general elections so that all stakeholders are fully invested in it and to ensure that the reform package does not become a victim of political disagreements. If the government and the opposition genuinely want to improve the electoral system, they should avoid shortcuts and choose the right way.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2021