Secret balloting and open balloting give different results: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali has remarked that the result of polls if held under secret balloting will be different from those held under open balloting.

He observed: “I belong to Sindh too. If the polls are held under secret balloting, their result will be different from the result of polls held under open balloting. Influential people force the poor to strike reconciliation deals.”

He said this was a matter of public interest. There were several political parties involved in this case and the majority of them belonged to Sindh. One evil could not be made a justification for another evil.The CJP gave these remarks while chairing a three-member SC bench during the course of hearing on mayor and deputy mayor elections in Karachi.

Babar Awan, counsel for Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians, argued that the schedule for elections of mayor and deputy mayor was not issued till making amendment to the law. A voter exercised his right to vote freely through secret balloting. Depriving the Sindh Assembly of the right to legislate was an interference in provincial autonomy. Holding transparent elections was a mandate of the election commission and it could not interfere in legislation. He argued that the election commission, after the SC, was the only institution which had limitless powers and it was binding on everyone to abide by its laws. But the election commission had failed in exercising its powers. Everybody should be allowed to run its election campaign freely.

Justice Amir Hani Muslim asked if polls for parliament were held under the law.Awan said the elections were held under the Constitution.Justice Muslim said it was not a matter related to Sindh only, so the court would give an order for all the provinces.The hearing was adjourned till April 12.