KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to reverse its earlier decision and allow registration of new votes, their correction and transfer by the people across the country till the announcement of the schedule of the upcoming general elections.

Recently, the ECP had fixed July 13 as the last date for all those who want to get themselves registered as voters, correct their names or addresses or transfer their vote to other areas so that they could be able to exercise their right to franchise in the upcoming general elections.

However, many parties including the MQM-P had expressed their serious concern over the move.

MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui sent a letter to the chief election commissioner asking him to review the deadline, as freezing the electoral rolls much before the announcement of the election schedule created doubts about transparency.

The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, states: “Your attention is drawn towards the published advertisement regarding closing date for the registration, correction and transfer of votes which is July 13, 2023.

“First of all, in the recently conducted national census, millions of new voters are registered; consequently, the closure of the voters’ list without summation of newly added youth in population would not only mean denying them of their rights to vote but also Pakistan from true representation,” said Dr Siddiqui in the letter.

“Secondly, the untimely freezing of voters’ list without the announcement of election schedule raises serious questions on the fairness and transparency of the upcoming general elections,” he added.

The party demanded that the ECP immediately reverse its decision and allow citizens to enter, correct and transfer their votes till the announcement of the schedule for general elections.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023