ISLAMABAD, July 6: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, in a meeting held on Thursday, expressed concern over the Election Commission’s decision to enrol only those voters in the new electoral roll who possess computerised national identity cards (CNICs).

Presided over by MNA Riaz Fatyana, the meeting decided to summon the secretary Election Commission and the director general Nadra in the next meeting and explain under what authority the commission Nadra were ‘disfranchising’ citizens merely because they do not possess CNICs.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (rtd) Qazi Mohammad Farooq, while discarding old electoral rolls for being replete with repetitions, errors and omissions, had ordered compilation of computerised voter lists. The commission, however, had decided to enrol only those voters who possess CNICs issued by Nadra. The CEC had also asked people to acquire CNICs before start of door-to-door enumeration of voters.

According to the commission, there are over 78 million eligible voters in the country and by the next general election the number will increase to 80 million. But so far, Nadra has issued CNICs to only 52 million voters, which hints at a possibility that 25 million persons would be deprived of their right of franchise.

OTHER ITEMS ON AGENDA: The standing committee also underlined the need of coordination between the government and the opposition to clear backlog of legislative business, particularly the bills presented by private members.