Fawad urges Shahbaz to name ‘focal person’ for poll reforms talks

Ag APP

LAHORE: Information minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Saturday once again invited the opposition to discuss election reforms with the government, and called for opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif to nominate a “focal person” so dialogue could be undertaken.

Talking to the media here, Chaudhry said the opposition has an important role in a democratic dispensation and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) should support the government election and judicial reforms.

He said electronic voting is the “remedy” to election rigging claims by political parties, adding that electronic voting machines (EVMs) could be trialled in the coming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections.

He said the EVMs could be used in some constituencies in the AJK elections, adding that he would soon give a demonstration at the Lahore Press Club and National Press Club besides the bar councils in Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Multan and Lahore, where elections are held annually, so elections could be held on EVMs.

The minister said the government wants to improve working relations with the opposition, adding that the government is making sincere efforts to court the opposition so constructive discussions could start on election reforms in the country.

He urged Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif, to name a focal person so that dialogue on reforms could be undertaken.

Chaudhry dispelled the impression that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had raised any objections to the use of technology, and said it was the government which provides rules and regulations, while the ECP is supposed to adopt technology and give feedback on its pros and cons.

He said a PTI delegation will meet ECP officials on Wednesday and will share policy guidelines of the government on election reforms.

About the budget, Chaudhry said the federal and provincial budgets would be “smooth sailing” for the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI), adding that all allied political parties “have assured the government of their support and all are on one page”.

Comparing the opposition with “fragmented straws”, Chaudhry said opposition parties were disintegrating and claimed there were differences between Shahbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz within the PML-N, and “Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Faryal Talpur are embroiled in a power struggle”.

With regard to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s remarks, he said power of the votes of millions of people brought PTI into power in 2018, adding that Maulana Fazl “cannot win that power even in the next 200 years”.

He said Maulana Fazl had “failed miserably” in keeping the political movement alive, suggesting he “should quit politics and pursue his own trade of solemnising marriages as a religious leader instead”.

When asked about Jahangir Tareen cases, he said the PTI parliamentarians have personal relations with Tareen and have been appearing alongside him during court hearings, adding that there was “nothing abnormal about it”.

“All PTI parliamentarians and Jahangir Tareen believe in the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and they know the Premier will not allow any injustice to anybody,” Chaudhry said.