With the Elections (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2021, the government expects the ECP to make long-term arrangements on the basis of a short-term law.
Why is that unlikely to happen?
Thread:
Sources say that the government’s election ordinance seems to be just “an eyewash”, adding that the ruling party did not table the ECP’s reports on electronic and internet voting in the parliament in the past three years.
And now the PTI has brought an ordinance, when there are no upcoming elections to test EVMs and I-Voting before the 2023 polls.
Polls are scheduled in AJK in August, but election officials in AJK have already opted out of being used as an experiment.
On Feb 8, the government has promised ECP to place the e- and i-voting reports in the parliament within one month.
It did not. Instead an ordinance was promulgated.
The timings of the ordinance is even more bizarre since the Ministry of IT has been tasked to conduct a third-party audit of I-Voting and the Ministry of Science has been asked to prepare a model of an EVM
Both reports are due on May 31.
Still, an ordinance was issued on May 8
Even if the ECP was to start procuring EVMs now, just the machines could cost upward to Rs. 52 billion.
Sources say the government is insisting on procurement, but has yet to allot it a budget.
It has also failed to provide any way forward on how online voting can be held in a secure manner.
Also, sources say that in countries where electronic voting is conducted the elections are held in a phased-manner.
Will all the political parties agree to a general election held over days rather than on a single day?
This is why a consensus in the parliament is necessary.
For now the ECP has called an urgent meeting post-Eid to respond to the ordinance. But its position has till now been clear: For e- and i-voting to be introduced all political parties must agree on it.
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The enablers of corruption must also be held accountable, says the prime minister.
The prime minister says his government came with a robust public mandate to get ride of this menace from the country. “But what is needed is international cooperation to bring perpetrators of financial crimes to justice,” he added.
The PM then proposed 7 steps the international community can take:
1. The stolen asests of developing countries must be returned 2. Authorities in havens must impose criminal and financial penalties 3. The enablers must be held accountable
Punjab’s primary healthcare department proposes the suspension of nine health officers in Lahore after “fake and fictitious entries” were made in coronavirus data in August. geo.tv/latest/309139-…
The health officer at Lahore’s DHA “has shown lethargic and careless attitude” says the notifcation, and has been involved in “intentional omission and commission of [Covid-19] data.” geo.tv/latest/309139-…
The deputy district health officers in Lahore’s Ravi, Cantt, Allama Iqbal, Gulberg, Aziz Bhatti, Nishter, Shalimar and Wagha towns were involved in making “fake, forged [Covid-19] data in the dashboard.” geo.tv/latest/309139-…
Punjab health officials detect fake COVID-19 data entries in Lahore, launch probe. geo.tv/latest/309139-…
Punjab’s primary and secondary healthcare department has proposed the suspension of nine health officers in Lahore after it found “fake and fictitious entries” of coronavirus data from August 23 to 31. geo.tv/latest/309139-…
“It is proved that the deputy district health officers of Ravi, Cantt, Allama Iqbal, Gulberg, Aziz Bhatti, Nishter, Shalimar and Wagha towns were involved in making fake, forged... data in the dashboard,” the official notification reads. geo.tv/latest/309139-…
“I was scared of promoting my own work because of the barrage of accounts...accusing me of taking bribes from opposition parties. So I stopped sharing my story, because it wasn’t worth it" - Ramsha Jahangir tells CPJ. #AttacksWontSilenceUs cpj.org/2020/09/as-rul…
Women journalists "are asking the government to act – not in the form of new legislation – but to embrace the norms of press freedom and stop attacking the character and integrity of journalists whose reporting they don’t like." #AttacksWontSilenceUs cpj.org/2020/09/as-rul…