Govt lays stress on importance of electronic voting

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan wants the election process to be shifted to electronic machines as soon as possible and will seek a weekly update on it, said Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday.

The minister was addressing a press conference with Hammad Azhar by his side.

The government has voiced the demand for an electronic voting process ever since allegations of horse-trading and rigging were exchanged between the government and the Opposition parties after the recently-held Senate elections and the election for the post of Senate chairman.

"The PTI's politics is based on accountability and transparency of the polls," he said. "The government's team is working to ensure transparent elections [in future]."

The minister spoke about the PDM's Tuesday meeting in Islamabad, saying that "political orphans" of the alliance will never accept anything. Praising PM Imran Khan, the minister said ever since he got elected to power, the prime minister has been concerned with solving the problems of the poor.

Touching upon the economic situation of the country, Chaudhry said it was no easy task to pull the government out of an economic crisis. "Out of 85 enterprises, 51 are encountering losses," he said. "We will hold an audit of 10 important institutions that have been reporting losses," added the minister.