Govt has shelved plan to bring 22nd Amendment: minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday said non-cooperation from some mainstream political parties had finally forced the incumbent government to shelve its plan to amend the voting procedure for the Senate elections.
Talking to The News, he said the government was quite serious to end horse-trading in elections for the upper house of parliament and that was why it had decided to introduce the 22nd Constitutional Amendment to make this democratic act fair and transparent.
“The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) showed reservations over the proposed 22nd Constitutional Amendment. Despite hectic efforts from the government, both of them refused to cast vote in its favour in parliament,” he said.
The minister said when the government officials talked to the top leadership of PPP, it maintained that the proposed clauses to amend the voting procedure for the Senate elections should be referred to the Electoral Reforms Committee, which could make it a part of the comprehensive constitutional package.
Referring to the reservations of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the minister said the veteran politician had raised the issue that if he supported the 22nd Constitutional Amendment, it would mean that he did not have trust in his own party members.
“Maulana Fazlur Rehman also raised the point when members of the national and provincial assemblies were elected through secret ballots, then they should also elect members of the Senate through the same procedure,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and elected members from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) initially appreciated the government’s move aimed at ending the horse-trading but the leadership of PPP and JUI-F expressed concern over the 22nd Constitutional Amendment and refused to support it in parliament.
Pervaiz Rashid said the government had formed a delegation that held meetings with Maulana Fazlur Rehman and leadership of other parties, including PPP, but all-out efforts failed to win the required support for the 22nd Constitutional Amendment.
He said as the Electoral Reforms Committee was doing its work, the government would ensure that the proposed amendments to change voting procedure for the Senate elections were made part of the constitutional package to be prepared to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
The minister said the government held a meeting of the parliamentary leaders to evolve a consensus on the draft amendment bill in a bid to hold the upcoming elections to 52 Senate seats in a manner that could end the undemocratic practice of horse-trading.
Replying to a question, he said Maulana Fazlur Rehman even told members of the government delegation how could he ask his party members that he did not trust them so he wanted to support the constitutional amendment that would force them to vote through an open ballot or show of hands. To a question, he said sometimes the government and political parties get united on some issues and sometimes not and it happens in politics.
“The government and political parties are united in the war against terrorism and all of them are also against horse-trading in the Senate elections. So the issue of change in voting pattern for the Senate elections would be discussed in detail in future.”