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Thursday March 28, 2024

Governor suggests expats seats in assemblies

By Our Correspondent
November 30, 2021

LAHORE: PUNJAB Governor Chaudhry Sarwar suggested that in addition to the right to vote, the overseas Pakistanis should also be given right to be elected in the National and Provincial Assemblies on reserved seats. He gave this suggestion during his meeting with Lord Mayor of Birmingham M Afzal in Birmingham on Monday.

During the meeting, Lord Mayor of Birmingham entitled Governor Punjab as the representative of overseas Pakistanis. Councillor from Birmingham Wasim Zafar, M Idrees, Fahim Kayani, Ch Mahmood, Councilor Zafar Iqbal, Ch Najeeb and overseas Pakistanis were also present on this occasion.

During the meeting, various issues including politics of overseas Pakistanis in UK were also discussed. Governor Punjab said the number of reserved seats should also be increased for overseas Pakistanis in Azad Kashmir. He said that the PTI government as promised, gave overseas Pakistanis the right to vote but I think in addition to giving the right to vote, reserved seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies should also be introduced for overseas Pakistanis so that they can be a part of important decisions including legislation in the country.

Chaudhry Sarwar said that overseas Pakistanis must participate in the politics of Pakistan but at the same time they should participate in the politics of the countries where they live. There was a time when Pakistanis were doing politics in Europe more actively than Indians but this is not the case today.

In order to increase Pakistan's influence in European countries, it is necessary for Pakistanis to be active in the politics of US, European countries and apart from local bodies, take part in elections there as well. Governor Punjab while appreciating the role of overseas Pakistanis in national economic development, said that I have been working for 20 years to solve the problems of overseas Pakistanis and to strengthen them and the doors of Governor’s House are open 24 hours for the solution of their problems. The overseas Commission Punjab is also working day and night to solve the problems of overseas Pakistanis.

Lord Mayor of Birmingham M Afzal said that the success of Ch Sarwar in the British politics has inspired the Pakistanis and today, dozens of Pakistanis are successfully progressing in British central and local government politics. Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, who has always been fighting for the rights of overseas Pakistanis, has also played a significant role in giving the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis. We also appreciate the suggestion of Governor Punjab for reserved seats in Pakistan's National and Provincial Assemblies for overseas Pakistanis, he said.