Daily Times

President Dr Arif Alvi Sunday returned unsigned a bill seeking to reverse the controversial changes made to the election laws by the former PTI government concerning the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis.,

A statement issued by the President’s Secretariat on Sunday said Dr Alvi “has not signed the bill despite the fact, that the Constitution that he upholds, will make it into law”.

Referring to Article 75 (2) of the Constitution, Dr Alvi said it was “very painful” for him as the head of state “to not sign a bill passed by Majlis Shoora”. He also enlisted his reasons for the “posterity”.

The president in his reasoning mentioned that apart from the laws’ being regressive, he strongly believes that technology, especially electronic voting machines when used judiciously provide solutions that reduce the impact of confusion, discord and accusations in our “ever-marred” and challenged election processes.

“Technology can also improve transparency, make elections inclusive with the vote of our overseas Pakistanis, build confidence and reduce polarisation to finally achieve our elusive dream of free and fair elections,” said President Alvi.

Apart from this, the president also stated that he wants “Pakistan to leapfrog into the world of tomorrow, not to solve today’s problems only through the lens and experiences of yesterday but through newer and better scientific approaches that are available, or even ‘birthing’ today”.

The head of the state also admitted that this can only happen with confidence-building measures across the aisles, and broad stakeholder involvement.

“Why was this not done and why the obvious was not visible to the opinion and decision makers will remain an enigma to him,” said Dr Alvi.

“The present and future governments and parliaments will be facing two choices, whether to allow the past to drag Pakistan down or allow the lessons from the past and technologies of today to boost us into the bright progressive and dynamic future of Pakistan that has been our dream,” said the president.

He also observed that “many such decisions” will challenge the country in the future, and history has shown that countries that make the right decisions ‘rise’, and those who don’t, squander opportunities that obstruct their path to glory.

The bill, along with the one on NAB amendments, was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate last month.

After its approval from both the houses of Parliament, only the president’s assent was required for it to become law. However, Alvi sent back the bills, following which the government convened a joint sitting of the NA and Senate on June 9 to consider the bills, which were approved the same day.

Procedurally, after bills are passed by the joint sitting, they are presented to the president once again for his assent. If the president does not give his approval within 10 days, it will be deemed to have been given. Despite that, Alvi sent back the elections reform bill, unsigned.

In a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat, Dr Alvi said that he had not signed the bill “despite the fact, that the Constitution that he upholds, will make it into law”.

Elaborating on why he did not sign it, he said he had been pursuing the issues of EVMs and voting for overseas Pakistanis with all governments, in parliament and with the Supreme Court for over a decade. He referred to Article 75 (2) of the Constitution of Pakistan which states: “When the President has returned a Bill to the Majlis-e Shoora (Parliament), it shall be reconsidered by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting and, if it is again passed, with or without amendment, by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), by the votes of the majority of the members of both Houses present and voting, it shall be deemed for the purposes of the Constitution to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President, and the President shall give his assent within ten days, failing which such assent shall be deemed to have been given.”

President Alvi said it had been “very painful” for him to not sign a bill passed by the Parliament and wanted to “record his reasons for posterity”.

“The President said that besides the proposed laws’ regressive nature that he pointed out in detail when he referred the bill back to Parliament, he strongly believes that technology today, especially with EVMs when used judiciously contains many solutions that reduce the impact of confusion, discord and accusations in our ‘ever-marred’ and challenged election processes,” President’s Secretariat stated.

“Technology can also improve transparency, make elections inclusive with the vote of our Overseas Pakistanis, build confidence and reduce polarisation to finally achieve our elusive dream of free and fair elections,” it highlighted.

More than that, the statement continued, the president wanted Pakistan to “leapfrog into the world of tomorrow”, and not just solve problems through the lens and experiences of yesterday but through newer and better scientific approaches that were available.

“He does understand that this cannot happen without confidence-building measures across the aisles, and broad stakeholder involvement. Why was this not done and why the obvious was not visible to the opinion and decision-makers will remain an enigma to him.”

The president further observed that the present and future governments and parliaments would be facing two choices: “whether to allow the past to drag Pakistan down or allow the lessons from the past and technologies of today to boost us into the bright progressive and dynamic future of Pakistan that has been our dream.”

“Many such decisions will continue to challenge us, and history shows that those who make the right decisions ‘rise’, and those who don’t, squander opportunities that obstruct their path to glory,” Dr Alvi added.