Sheikh Rashid moves SC for voting rights to overseas Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Wednesday sought Supreme Court’s (SC) direction to federal government for allowing Overseas Pakistanis to cast votes in general elections.

Sh Rashid wanted right to vote for Overseas Pakistanis in the interest of equity and justice. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed filed a petition under Article 184(3) of the constitution making federation of Pakistan, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice and Election Commission of Pakistan as respondents.

He prayed to the apex court to declare the amendment to section 94 of the Elections Act, 2017 (Act XXXIII of 2017) vide section 3 of the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022 (Act X of 2022) as unconstitutional and void ab initio.

He questioned as to whether a statutory delay amounts to ouster of Overseas Pakistanis from participation in the electoral process resultantly affecting the process of electoral equality, inclusiveness and fairness, and, therefore, undermines the principle of participatory democracy – thus violating Article 17 of the Constitution.

“Whether does the ouster of overseas Pakistanis from electoral process undermine the principle of “electoral accountability” as well as the “political accountability”, he further questioned. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed submitted that the real strength of Pakistan are those who are living abroad. Currently, the numeric strength of Overseas Pakistanis is approximately 9 million.

He said that Overseas Pakistanis, constitutes 6th largest in the world. It is worth mentioning that in the year 2021 alone, Overseas Pakistanis sent remittances to the tune of $33 billion. Moreover, he contended that Overseas Pakistanis not only project the soft image of Pakistan at international level but also help Pakistan in terms of acquiring critical knowledge, skills and art in diverse fields and professions.